IU Football bowl hopeful?

Heading into college one of my top priorities was to go to a school with a solid football program. Growing up I went to a lot of Wisconsin badgers games and witnessed Ron Dayne make history when he broke the all time college rushing record. The crowd was electrifying and the smell of brats and beer in the air was very comforting in the autumn afternoons. Unfortunately once I decided to go to Indiana University all of that was thrown out the window. When thinking of Hoosier country the first thing that pops into everybody's head is Bobby Knight throwing that chair across the court. Therefore, basketball is obviously legendary on the IU campus. All the players are shown tons of respect and looked upon with admiration. The football team was just starting to turn a new page and I really thought they had a chance of making a bowl game last year. To to be bowl eligible a team must be at least at .500. Going into the eleventh and final game of the season last year the Hoosiers were 5-5 going into the rivalry game at Purdue. They lost that game and just a couple days ago their coach Terry Hoeppner may he rest in peace. Now the question lies whether the Hoosiers can use this sudden tragedy as a stepping stone to a new beginning and as motivation to make a bowl game, or will they falter under the pressure and have another losing season. After becoming friendly with a few of the football players and spending some time talking to them about the upcoming season, they sounded very enthusiastic and confident about their chances at a bowl. This was before Coach Hep passed away, but I could sense the team knew that he was not in great condition. I think the team will rally around what Coach Hep stood for and what he planted in all his players. The will to win and do whatever it takes. Expect the Hoosiers to reach their first bowl game and hopefully pull a cindarella Rutgers like season. Hey, they arent playing Michigan or Ohio State, and their non conference schedule looks pretty favorable. Their first three games of the season are against Indiana State, Western Michigan, and Akron. Now we all know that Akron gets pumped up for these televised games and they have lots of experience on ESPN. However, with Kellen Lewis, and James Hardy in rhythm, expect the Hoosiers to cruise to a 3-0 start. After that they play Illinois at home which will be a tough test but with a 3-0 start the home crowd will be rocking them to a victory. They head into Iowa after this and unfortunately IU is not going undefeated. That is almost a guarenteed loss eventhough the hoosiers beat Iowa in Bloomington last year. Minnesota at home is a very possible win. Best case scenario IU is 5-1 after six games. That would mean they would only have to win one more game to make a bowl. The rest of their schedule goes as follows: at michigan state, vs penn state, at wisconsin, vs ball state, at northwestern, vs purdue. Michigan State and Penn State are two likely losses. At Wisconsin is a definite loss. That puts us at 5-4, maybe 4-5 if we lose to Illinois. Either way we have Ball State who we should beat with ease. At northwestern will be tough, but they are not nearly the team they have been the last couple years on the offensive end. IU should win that game and then win the rivalry game at home against Purdue. They will be pumped up to avenge the loss from last year which made them unable to be eligible for a bowl game. So Indiana University could very likely have a seven win season. That would be the beginning of getting that football program right on track and hopefully one day turn the team into a powerhouse just as the basketball team is known as.