Eighth Ranked Hoosiers Upset by Golden Gophers, 77-74

The Indiana Hoosers were ranked eighth in the country and were nearly double digit favorites, but they could not avoid the upset bug after losing to Minnesota, 77-74.

Indiana (15-2) had won three consecutive games and came into the game as one of the nation's best stories. Not many expected much from the Hoosiers and yet, guys like Cody Zeller, Victor Oladipo and Jordan Hulls have become Big Ten stars this season.

Minnesota's victory is a huge win, even though we're still in January—it is never too early to get a huge road victory. The Gophers were on the bubble and it was debatable among many "experts" on whether they would make the tournament, had it started this week.

CBS's Jerry Palm currently has Minnesota among the final four teams in the tournament, whereas ESPN's Joe Lunardi had them just missing the tournament (though he did not have them even in the final four out).

The Hoosiers were a two seed in both prognosticators' latest projections, but bank on them dropping to a four or five seed if they were to lose on Sunday against the fitth-ranked Buckeyes.

Certainly this road victory for Minnesota (13-5) will allow them to take a small breath before they play Penn State (road) and Northwestern in their next two games, but this could go a long way to making the big dance.

The Hoosiers need to quickly bounce back, because they must go to Columbus to take on what should be an angry Ohio State Buckeye squad. Despite the loss to Minnesota, Cody Zeller played like the best freshman in the country after posting 23 points and seven rebounds.

The return of Will Sheehey (ankle) was another positive despite the loss, since he has missed the past six games. In his first action since the injury, he went 5-of-7 with 12 points, which backs up the hype of him being one of the best sixth men in the country.

The true player of the game was Gophers sophomore guard Austin Hollins, who had a career-high 18 points (7-of-10 shooting).

Indiana was cold from downtown, connecting on just 4-of-18 (Led country shooting 48 percent from distance), which is a concern since March is all about a one-and-done scenario. However, this tough loss has not taken away much from the fabulous season that Tom Crean has put together in Bloomington.