Post-season not just a fantasy land

I hope the IU football team has healed.\nPoor guys, they had to walk around campus with huge gaping holes in their feet as a result of shooting themselves multiple times in the foot in the loss to Iowa.\nTo recap the debacle that was a football game, IU should have and could have beaten Iowa on Saturday, and have nobody but themselves to blame.\nThe defense gave the Hoosiers a chance Saturday. After a characteristic slow start, the defense got their act together and gave the offense numerous chances to win the game.\nThe offense took those chances, and literally, threw them away.\nOn the Big Ten Web site this week, sophomore wide receiver Courtney Roby was cited as one of the top performers in the Big Ten for Saturday. Roby had 198 yards in 11 receptions. Nice numbers, but what happens between the 10-yard lines is irrelevant.\nSenior quarterback Gibran Hamdan was also listed on the page. He is the first quarterback IU has had throw more than 300 yards in back-to-back games since 1984. But it's baffling to think that Hamdan threw for 335 yards, and still IU had to settle for two field goals and a safety.\nAs Hamdan, Roby and the rest of the IU offense found out Saturday, it doesn't matter if you get almost 500 yards in a game if there are no points added to the scoreboard. In fact, they are meaningless if they are unproductive, and on Saturday, that's exactly what they were.\nIU head coach Gerry DiNardo said after the game Saturday that the Hoosiers probably could have played better. Uhhh, hello? What's with the "could have?" Just say your team blew the game and a chance to upset a ranked team for the second week in a row.\nHis other analysis? He also attributed the loss to growing pains. Seven games into the season, and the only thing he can come up with is growing pains? Maybe if it were the first game of the season. Or the first road game. Or even the first Big Ten game. But the excuses are stale, and they don't exist anymore.\nIU can be, and has shown signs that it is, a good football team. But its worst opponent is not on the opposite side of the field, it's themselves.\nLuckily for the Hoosiers, the rest of the Big Ten schedule is full of opportunities, and call me crazy, but IU has a strong chance of being in bowl contention come December.\nStop laughing and keep reading. \nLet's take a look at the teams that the Hoosiers still face.\n• Illinois: The Fighting Illini have self-imploded this year. Like IU knows all too well, the only statistic that matters is the win-loss percentage, and Illinois, while impressive on paper, is struggling big time. This is just what the Hoosiers need to face after Iowa. It'll be a good confidence booster to pick up a win on the road.\n• Northwestern: The Wildcats, or mildcats, have run out of wishes. Last year, Northwestern got mercy from above, but cruelty sets in when luck is no longer on their side. Just look at the Ohio State and Minnesota losses. Last year, the Wildcats could have pulled out a miraculous win. If IU does not wallop Northwestern, DiNardo should go back to Vanderbilt. Maybe they could beat the biggest "gimme" in the Big Ten.\n• Michigan State: The Spartans started the season ranked and had expectations of great things. But then Michigan State started to realize that people were actually respecting them, and they can't have any of that. So they've been on a downward spiral, and by the time they face IU, the descent into OverRated-Ville will be near complete.\n• Penn State: IU loses. Hands down. But hey, finishing the season 4-1 is still good! \n• Purdue: Poor Purdue. A mere three wins and plenty of heartbreaking losses. The Boilermakers better be prepared for another heartache following the IU game. Bottom line, this is just not Purdue's year.\nSo IU's bowl aspirations are not unachievable. Let's just stop the self-mutilation tendencies, okay guys?