Looks like the NIT

It's over. Done with. Finished. Kaput. Forget about it. There is no hope.\nYou can close the books on IU's 18 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, because that streak is history.\nMy initial reaction after Wednesday's loss to Minnesota was anger. Anger because I could see IU's lead evaporating from a mile away. As soon as Bracey Wright lifted an incredibly ill advised shot with under two minutes left and IU had just gotten a fresh shot clock, my natural instinct for choking went off. It was only a matter of time.\nBy the end of the game, I assumed fate would come in overtime. IU did have the last shot, after all. Heck, I might even be wrong this time, as I watched the play while chewing some fingernails. But for whatever reason, they decided to take the last-second shot with a good five seconds left on the clock. From NBA three-point range. By a former walk-on.\nOh, it would have made a good script in Hollywood. But the thing is, in Hollywood, last-second shots are generally taken at, well, the last second. Not when there is enough time for the other team to get the ball. Especially when the game is tied and you don't need a second chance shot, just the best you can get.\nBringing to mind the infamous words of former Oakland Raiders coach Bill Callahan, Mike Davis said "we couldn't play any dumber than what we played." But one has to wonder where the players developed such a trait.\nSeriously, does no one on this team think? Every player seems to have some sort of hero complex, abandoning sound basketball for glory. But much like Timothy Dalton as James Bond, they have not performed well as heroes.\nBelieve it or not, my anger eventually subsided to awe. How good is Kris Humphries? Can we get an ID check on this guy? The program says he is a freshman. Yet he is leading the Big Ten in points and rebounds. How is it Minnesota can have such a terrible record with a guy like that -- who can do it all on the inside and outside?\nMy final change of mood was to sadness. The game worked out like a Greek tragedy for George Leach. (I mean a classical Greek tragedy, not the frat house getting kicked-off campus, Greek tragedy). Leach has the game of his life, but in the end, he is done in by his great flaw -- his propensity to foul people.\nBy fouling out with 3.6 seconds left, Leach's game is over. The game is over for IU. And so is the season -- all on one play. The symmetry is perfect, if not nauseating.\nThe feeling I have right now is similar to the one that hit me after Game 6 of last year's NL Championship Series. I had never seen a team give a game away quite like that one -- at least until Wednesday's game rolled around. And even though the schedule showed there was another game to be played, deep down inside I knew it was a done deal.\nIU now has to win the Big Ten Tournament. Their only quality win is over another team on the bubble -- Purdue. And the game in West Lafayette sort of cancels that out. \nHow a team has lost three straight home games will be able to pull off four wins on a neutral court is something I can't answer. But I have a feeling it will happen around the same time pigs start flying, Hell's climate becomes conducive to building snowmen, and I have a hot girlfriend and a nice car.\nIn the words of the Magic 8-Ball, "Outlook not so good"