40-year-old man or not, the Hoosiers are coming after Mike Gundy and Oklahoma State.\nIn case you’ve been trapped under The Rock following the on-field Old Oaken Bucket celebration, the Hoosiers and Cowboys will spend New Year’s Eve playing in the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Ariz.\nSet to watch the BCS selection show on a television the size of Barry Bonds’ head (pre-steroids), my Sunday evening was disturbed by an anticlimactic sports information director. Oklahoma State University’s athletics Web site spilled the Insight Bowl beans an hour before Fox was supposed to break the story nationally.\nBut small screen or not, the picture couldn’t have been any clearer: For the first time since 1993, the Hoosiers can call their football season a success.\nSince the Bucket game, Lynch and his coaching staff have been recruiting endlessly, selling the “buzz” around IU football. With the future of IU’s coaching position cemented and their bowl tickets stamped for Tempe, the “buzz” is bordering on a deafening roar in comparison to years past.\nThe Insight Bowl is everything coach Hep envisioned and exactly what Bill Lynch and his players have been fighting for all season. A prestigious game, a national setting, a warm climate, a legitimate opponent – take a deep breath Hoosier fans, how refreshing is IU football’s relevancy?\nLike that oversized plaid sweater you wear around the holidays, the Insight Bowl is the perfect fit for the Hoosiers. For weeks, the only thing Hoosier fans have been wanting for Christmas is not to spend the day after at the Motor City Bowl. \nBut the sleepless nights spent poking and prodding Detroit-related voodoo dolls and knocking on cream and crimson wood paid off – the Hoosiers are destined for the Valley of The Sun. \nAnother sunny destination, The Champs Sports Bowl, made a last-second push in IU fans’ hearts, but the game ultimately would have been a bad fit. Boston College, a team ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation this year, would have presented an opponent too talented for the Hoosiers to compete with. \nInstead the Hoosiers are dealt the Cowboys, a challenging yet equal opponent. \nFor a writer who fancies focusing on the negatives, there are only two currently present in IU’s biggest football game in 14 years. \nMaking a push in the ultimate irony category, the Insight Bowl, a college football postseason game, will be nationally televised on the NFL Network. \nFor fans making the trip to Tempe and not scrambling for satellite-enabled televisions, the Barenaked Ladies will be headlining the Insight Bowl’s block party, which is an all-day party in Tempe that plays out until 2008. Apparently, Fastball and Savage Garden were already booked during bowl-season. \nBut the positive buzz resonating from Memorial Stadium and IU football easily drains out the two discrepancies. A teleconference late Sunday night couldn’t reveal Lynch’s smile, but everyone listening could hear him grinning through his teeth.\n“The mindset isn’t just getting a chance to play a bowl game,” Lynch said. “The fun part is going to win it.”
Prediction: Insight Bowl – IU vs. Colorado\nActual: Insight Bowl – IU vs. Oklahoma State
