When named the head coach at Indiana, Tom Allen wrote down a list of three achievements that the Hoosiers hadn’t achieved in decades, nay, generations. The Hoosiers hadn’t been ranked in the AP Top 25 poll since 1994, they hadn’t won a bowl game since the 1991 season and they hadn’t won a conference title since 1967.
After a narrow 74-67 loss over previously 4-1 Northwestern on Wednesday night in which Northwestern quarterback Peyton Ramsey threw for five touchdowns and ran for three more (look, play along with the bit, I need this and so do you), Indiana nearly crossed off a second item from Allen’s three-goal list, as the Hoosiers fell just short of becoming Big Ten champions for the first time in two generations.