Tourney talks 'résumé' again

With graduation approaching faster than it takes Pat Ewing Jr. to foul out, it's about time I polish up my résumé. You know, maybe get a job.\nHowever, moving back home with the folks in sunny south Florida, lounging by the pool and struggling through 18 holes of golf may keep me too busy to work anyway. \nBut being unemployed, while beneficial for a short while, just brings this negative vibe -- along with incessant nagging from Ma. So, I think I need that little extra something that helps my résumé jump off the page, something that screams, "Pick me!" \nSaddled in the same boat with yours truly, the Hoosiers, in dire need of a résumé builder, welcomed No. 10 Michigan State to Assembly Hall Sunday in hopes of curtailing the Spartans' six-game win streak and strengthening their own dwindling tournament aspirations.\nThe game presented IU with a golden opportunity: add a marquee win against a top-echelon program with a national television audience tuning in.\nFor the Hoosiers' tournament hopes, Sunday was a must-win. Everyone in the state, crowd and those sitting on the bench understood the game's necessity. Lose, and it's a must-win road game at one of the toughest places to play in the country -- Wisconsin. \nWith the Big Ten's leading scorer (Bracey Wright) coupled with the conference's best freshman (D.J. White), the Hoosiers forced a team who had only lost four games prior to Sunday to the brink, and then to its knees.\nDuring the four years I've spent in Bloomington, Sunday's contest might rank as one of the greatest games I've witnessed at the Hall. The 2002 bombardment of Illinois where 17 three-pointers triggered a 31-point victory is tough to beat, but a win tastes that much sweeter when almost all the "experts" have written you off.\nYour back is to the wall, your big men are in foul trouble, a lead is blown and a six-point deficit with two minutes to go against the best free-throw shooting team in the country shouldn't equate into positive results. The "experts" would have said we lost, and I take unadulterated joy in informing them of their mistake.\nNow tied for third in the conference with Wisconsin -- the aforementioned tough road opponent -- Tuesday's game has the potential to seal the Hoosiers' postseason fate or merely force the IU nation to hold its collective breath, turning the beloved crimson purple.\nThe argument of just one marquee win has been erased, the reality of a 10-win conference season inches closer and the résumé begins to make some believe.\nSunday's upset over the Spartans was a clear message from the Hoosiers to the NCAA Selection Committee, "Pick us!"\nMy advice: Don't give them anymore reasons not to.