Hail to the conceivable

 So it's not inconceivable the Crimson Tide could pull the upset ...

-- Me, 24 hours ago

I was wrong. It was inconceivable.

-- Me, today

And, yes, yes, yes, YES, Indiana fans. Feel free to pile on.

I thought the Hoosiers were good enough to beat a three-loss Alabama team. I didn't think they were good enough (or Alabama bad enough) to turn the Crimson Tide into a chew toy.

I thought they'd win by five. They won by 35.

By 35?? And they said WE didn't belong in the playoff!

-- Tulane and James Madison, who lost by 31 and 17, respectively

Yes, indeed, you two. Gloat away.

But while you're gloating, contemplate what happened last night in the lee of those famous Shining San Gabriel Mountains. Indiana -- playing in its biggest game, well, ever -- was virtually flawless. It rushed for 215 yards, averaging 4.3 yards per carry, and held Alabama to 23 (1.4 ypc). It outgained the Crimson Tide 407 yards to 193, piled up twice as many first downs (22-11), won time of possession by almost nine minutes (34:21-25:39).

Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, meanwhile, had more touchdown passes (3) than incompletions (2, in a 14-of-16 night). Kaelon Black ran for 99 yards and Roman Hemby for 89, averaging 6.6 and 4.9 yards per carry, respectively. And the Hoosiers had a virtually clean sheet on the infraction side: One penalty for 10 yards, and zero turnovers.

In other words, they were who they've been all season: A superbly focused, superbly prepared team that doesn't beat itself. 

That's why this one was over by halftime, when the Hoosiers led 17-0, and maybe even by the 10:49 mark of the second quarter, when Mendoza found Charlie Becker from 21 yards out to make it a 10-0 game. Indiana wasn't going to hand back those leads; Alabama would have to overcome them itself. And Alabama couldn't.

And so Indiana 38, 'Bama 3 at the finish. It was the first Rose Bowl win in Indiana football's less-than-decorous 138-year history, and its first bowl victory of any kind since the Hoosiers won the Copper Bowl 35 years ago.

38-3! I bet Paul Finebaum and the rest of the SEC shills are eating a big ol' plate of crow.

-- America

Are (chewing noises) not (more chewing noises)!

-- Paul Finebaum and the rest of the SEC shills, eating a big ol' plate of crow.

So what's next?

What's next is a rematch with Oregon, whom the Hoosiers beat by 10 in Eugene back in  October. If they repeat that performance, they'll be playing for the national championship against either 10th-seeded Miami, who knocked out 2-seed Ohio State on New Year's Eve in the Cotton Bowl, or six-seed Ole Miss, who upset 3-seed Georgia in the Sugar Bowl last night.

My prediction?

I'm not making any. Not yet.

Coward!

-- Indiana fans

That's conceivable.

-- Me