It's picture day

Here's a reminder for all students to wear their finest clothes (and don't forget to comb your hair) for picture day Saturday at Memorial Stadium . That's right, Ohio State is coming to town, and they're bringing their large, passionate, oft-obnoxious fan base with them.\nAnd that's what makes it the biennial picture day for Memorial Stadium. It is the only time of year when the Stadium will be sold out and full of red shirts. Hence, it offers an excellent opportunity for the IU Athletic Department to snap an aerial photo to throw on a brochure. \nThe cynical side of me (if you can believe I have one) wants to advocate that everyone show up wearing blue shirts just to throw everything off kilter. However, things may have already been thrown out of whack due to the fact that IU fans will be showing up in crimson shirts. Anyone who looks at the ensuing photograph of the Stadium will certainly notice that scarlet shirts will be more prevalent than crimson.\nSo I think that IU is going to have to get Oklahoma on its schedule. An IU-OU game isn't that crazy of an idea -- IU is undefeated against the Sooners, winning the only game between the two teams. That was in 1928, but who's counting?\nIt is a match-up Nike clearly would like to see. After all, they managed to give IU the exact same uniforms as the Sooners. The only differences are the names on the front of the jerseys and their helmets say "OU" instead of "IU."\nI think that Navy and Notre Dame may be the only two teams in the country with uniforms that even come close to being this similar. Of course, much like those two teams, no one is likely to confuse the on-field products with one another.\nWhich brings me back to Ohio State. The Buckeyes have a slight 49-game edge in the all-time series. OK, so that's not so slight. It is the most lopsided series in the Big Ten. IU's last win was in 1988, when they beat the Bucks 41-7 (that is not a misprint). The previous year, the Hoosiers won 31-10 in Columbus, which prompted Ohio State coach Earle Bruce to say, "This has got to be the darkest day for Ohio State football since I've been associated with it." And he had been associated with Ohio State football for nearly 40 years.\nWhat are IU's odds of making Saturday an even darker day, you ask? After all, these are the defending national champions. But they have made a habit of making games a little too close for comfort. This year, they edged San Diego State 16-13 without scoring an offensive touchdown. They should have lost to North Carolina State, too, but the Wolfpack coaching staff decided to rely on quarterback sneaks when they got the ball to the Ohio State four-yard line in overtime.\nLast year, the Buckeyes always seemed to pull magic out of their hats (or some other place) in beating Purdue, Illinois and, of course, Miami.\nLast year, IU had a bye week before they played Wisconsin. They stunned the Badgers 32-29 after a great fourth quarter comeback. The Hoosiers are coming off a bye week now.\nAm I advocating that IU will pull off the upset on Saturday? No. I might be sleep-deprived from studying all week, but I'm not crazy. But this game will be closer than you think. Of course, you may be thinking along the lines of 80-0. \nBut those goal posts have to come down sometime. Why not do it on picture day?