Indiana Hoosier Fans: You Can Officially Raise Your Expectations, Within Reason

If you took a survey of Indiana basketball fans before the 2011-2012 season began on what their expectations were, answers would range anywhere from an NIT bid on the low end to maybe a bubble NCAA Tournament team on the very high end (full disclosure, I was in the "NIT" group). Flash forward to the end of the non-conference schedule, and the No. 17-ranked Hoosiers are one of six undefeated teams left in the country at 12-0.

The hardest thing about watching this year's team has been shaking off the previous three seasons in order to form a fair opinion on them. After the first game of the year, despite being against inferior competition, you could already tell that this was not the same Indiana team that had struggled to 12 total wins last season. I actually sent this out on Twitter the afternoon following that game:

"Re-watched IU/Stony Brook game. I realize the opponent, but I think I may have short-changed my predicted win total."

But that was Stony Brook and Chattanooga and these early-season performances had fooled us before; they still had to prove it to us...

So then the they traveled to Evansville. This was a game that many Indiana fans were on "upset-alert" for, especially after the Flying Aces had just knocked off Butler a few days before. That game was over within 10 minutes; the Hoosiers ran them out of their own gym.

But there were a lot of Indiana fans in that arena; it wasn't really a true road game. They still had to prove it to us...

It was then time for in-state rival and national championship runner-up Butler to come to town. Surely this game could tell us how Indiana measured up. The game was close for the first half, then the Hoosiers opened up the flood gates in the second half and the result was never in question. Indiana ended up winning 75-59.

But Butler had lost their two best players in Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard. Indiana hadn't beat the same team that made two straight final four runs, they still had to prove it to us...

Now it was time for the true litmus test. It was time for Indiana to head outside the state borders to face NC State in the ACC/Big Ten challenge for their first true road test.

The Hoosiers came out hot and jumped out to a big lead. However, as what happens with home teams, NC State kept clawing away and eventually jumped out to a seven-point lead with less than eight minutes to play in the game. This was the moment every Indiana fan wanted to see: How would this team respond to adversity on the road? Sure enough, they never blinked under the pressure. Not only did they get back in the game, they ended up winning by double digits with the help of great defense and three-point shooting. 

OK, maybe they were starting to prove something to us...

It finally looked as though this team had turned the proverbial corner after the NC State game, and they were going to get a chance to cast aside whatever doubt remained as the No. 1-ranked Kentucky Wildcats came to Bloomington just three days later. 

Surely anyone who is reading this doesn't need the result of that game laid out for them, as you have probably seen Christian Watford's buzzer beater (Re: The Shot - Part 2) 50 times by now. What hasn't been talked about enough is the way that Indiana won that game. The Hoosiers were far from perfect that Saturday night. In fact, the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes of that game were among their worst stretches offensively that they've played this season. Kentucky's defense and incredible length had much to do with that, but poor decision-making and execution on Indiana's part also played a large role. Yet they still never trailed by more than six points to the most talented team in the country.

Newsflash, Indiana fans, you have a good basketball team this year.

And if you needed more proof, go back and watch the Notre Dame and Howard games from last week. 

The Hoosiers weren't good against Notre Dame. They had poor shot selection, played poor on-the-ball defense and allowed the Irish to shoot 32 free throws on the night. Despite one of their worst efforts of the year, Indiana was never in danger of losing the game, cruising to a 69-58 win.

And though many saw the 107-50 blowout against Howard just two days later as an expected result against a bad team, this was the game that finally sold me on how good Indiana is. The game was over after three minutes, and the Hoosiers led by more than 30 points for most of the game, but they didn't take a single possession off. The entire team played every minute of that game with the same intensity that they showed in the last five minutes of the Kentucky game. That is maturity.

The best part about it is this isn't a fluke; there are actual basketball reasons to support why this team is good. They have one of the best freshman in the country in Cody Zeller, who has opened everything up for Indiana on offense. The ball movement is crisp and unselfish, and the improved shot selection has led to much more efficient offensive production. 

But the greatest strides have been made on the defensive end of the floor. The depth that Tom Crean has added isn't at an elite level yet, but it's at the point where every player needs to compete on each and every possession in order to earn minutes. Christian Watford and Verdell Jones III have taken their defense to another level this year, and Victor Oladipo has been Indiana's go-to guy to lockdown their opponents' most dangerous scorer.

The Hoosiers' defense isn't great when measured strictly by points/game and field goal percentage, but it is among the top 25 in the country when accounting for number of possessions per game. And when you combine that with their incredibly productive offense, it's easy to see why this team has started the way it has.

So go ahead and throw away your preseason prediction sheets, Hoosier fans, because they aren't valid anymore. This isn't a team that will be happy just competing anymore. It's not a team that will collapse down the stretch of the conference schedule as they have the last few seasons.

This is a good basketball team, and you should adjust your expectations accordingly. I'm not telling you to flip out if they lose two of three to open Big Ten play (because this is a real possibility) or to pencil them in for a Final Four appearance, but I will tell you that this is a team that should finish in the top portion of the Big Ten.

And you should also get your televisions ready for March, because Indiana will be playing in the postseason this year, and it won't be in the NIT.

This article originally appeared on Hoosier Cafe