So you're saying there's a chance ...

OK, OK. So, maybe. Possibly. I ... guess.

In other words, your Indiana Hoosiers are Not Dead Yet (to coin a phrase). Not ... quite.

I know, I know. The Blob threw dirt on their grave a couple of weeks ago, confidently proclaiming their NCAA Tournament hopes were as dead as Betamax. For this it apologizes, but only grudgingly, because, listen, did the Hoo-Hoo-Hoosiers look like an NCAA Tournament team then? Did they look like they were doing anything but playing out the string when they went up to Minnesota and got floor-waxed by the 21?

No, they did not.

But then ... stuff happened.

Weirdly, they started to compete again.

They started making ... well, a few shots, anyway.

They squeaked by Wisconsin at home by two. Then they somehow pulled out a one-point victory over Michigan State in a game they led only twice: 2-0 at the beginning, 63-62 at the end.

Then, last night, they went over to Illinois and played their best game since December,  trouncing the Illini by 18, putting five players in double figures, turning it over just seven times.

Devonte Green came off the bench to score 11 and didn't make a turnover. Justin Smith, the Human Enigma, scored 15 and didn't make a turnover, either. Romeo Langford scored only 10 points and took only eight shots, which doesn't sound like good news but actually was, because it meant a whole lot of other people contributed and gave Archie Miller the sort of multi-dimensional look he's been hunting for since the first of the year.

(Which proves, hopefully for good, that the man didn't forget how to coach on the drive over from Dayton to Bloomington. Although this being Hoosier Nation, there will likely always be a fresh outburst of bitching and moaning and backbiting every time Indiana stumbles).

In any case ... Indiana suddenly has 17 wins. They've got Rutgers coming in next, an eminently winnable game given the way they've been playing. Then it's on to the Big Ten tournament.

Win a couple of games there, and they'll be at 20 wins. Heck, win just one and they'll be at 19. That will likely be enough to get them in Da Tournament, given that they've been lugging around a couple of RPI-boosting victories from December, just for emergencies like this.

Of course, they still have to beat Rutgers and then win a couple games next week. So we'll see.

Maybe. Possibly. I ... guess.