Mayer: March Madness and What Could Have Been for ISU

The NCAA Tournament has not disappointed. We ask for madness and that is precisely what the greatest tournament in sports has dished out. The first 15 seed in history has reached the Sweet 16, a college version of lob city, while La Salle or Wichita State will be an elite eight team. There has been no lack of "onions" shots (looking at you Aaron Craft). While everyone roots for the underdog, what would the Sweet 16 be without some blue bloods; Hello Kansas, Duke, and Indiana.

Courtesy CBS

The action ramps back up on Thursday and I'm expecting some classics as the tournament moves on. It seems to be a cliche every year when people talk about the field being "wide open", but you have to believe it right now. Louisville may be the overall number one and playing the best ball, but there is nothing close to a 2012 Kentucky.

One thing that has been hard to overlook for folks in the Wabash Valley is some of the names in the Big Dance and what the Sycamores accomplished against those teams. Wichita State is representing the Missouri Valley Conference well in the Sweet 16. If you remember, the Sycamores delivered a drubbing on the road vs the Shockers. That was truly a shock (yes I'm sure no one has ever used that pun before) seeing as how Wichita State had not lost at home in something like 20 years.

Courtesy USA Today

Now head into the memory bank to the tournament in Hawaii. Indiana State beat Miami behind last second Jake Odum magic. Given those were different times way back in December. No one had any idea how good Miami would be and they were playing without big man Reggie Johnson. Although, it seems the same fate has fallen upon the Hurricanes as Johnson will have to miss the Sweet 16 matchup against Marquette.

Gone but not forgotten are the Creighton Blue Jays who won the MVC regular season and tournament. They are off to the new Big East which really makes next season promising for ISU (we'll get there in a second). The Sycamores laid the smackdown on the Blue Jays who were ranked #16 at the time. That game was arguably the best for ISU all season. The Sycamores also took down Ole Miss, a team that won the SEC tournament, beat Wisconsin in the first round, and was a couple of missed shots away from making the Sweet 16.

All of this points to one thing: the Sycamores are a talented basketball team. They proved capable of beating some very good squads in three conferences. We can also analyze some of Indiana State's bad losses and will come out with a puzzled look. A team with no seniors often showed their youth. One game the Sycamores would look like a team that could win the MVC, the next like a squad destined to never win again.

Courtesy Indiana State

The main point to come away with is ISU will return their entire starting roster next year, although Rhett Smith seems to be on his way out. Mike Samuels, the 6'1" center who was out all season will be back. We saw the maturation of Devonte Brown, Justin Gant, Khristian Smith, and a late season emergence from Brandon Burnett.


MVC heavyweight Creighton is gone. Jackie Carmichael of Illinois State and and Colt Ryan of Evansville are gone. Jake Odum is still here and he is only getting better. Put it this way, Sycamores fans are going to have high hopes next year. Instead of an NIT loss, they could be celebrating an NCAA win.