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Indiana ranked # 16 in final poll of the season

Indiana is #16, Maryland comes in at #14. Other area schools ranked were Louisville at #6, ND at#17, Kentucky at #19 and Butler at #23.

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-national-rankings/men

Go Hoosiers!

Disappointing . . .

. . . we are told here that there are no more dynasties because there is parity in the game now. And yet we have a two-time national champion in Stanford . . .

. . . disappointing for IU to fall to this level late in the season rather than putting it all together to make a run in the tournament.
 
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Disappointing . . .

. . . we are told here that there are no more dynasties because there is parity in the game now. And yet we have a two-time national champion in Stanford . . .

. . . disappointing for IU to fall to this level late in the season rather than putting it all together to make a run in the tournament.
Clearly everyone should be fired immediately.
 
Disappointing . . .

. . . we are told here that there are no more dynasties because there is parity in the game now. And yet we have a two-time national champion in Stanford . . .

. . . disappointing for IU to fall to this level late in the season rather than putting it all together to make a run in the tournament.

Everyone is obviously quite disappointed the Hoosiers didn't progress farther in the tournament. I'm sure Maryland and Butler fans are feeling the same about their teams. Our Hoosiers generally had the better of the Virginia Tech game, but got beat by hot keeper and a terrific strike. It happens. You tip your cap to the other guy (who came out of the toughest soccer conference in the nation) and move on to next year.

We do have a repeat champion. The first in twelve years... our Hoosiers being that last to turn the trick. In the interim, there were 8 different champions in 10 years. Maryland and Virginia managed to win twice. However, the fact that we have a repeat champion does not invalidate the fact that the soccer landscape has irrevocably changed since 2000. I don't know that dynasties have disappeared and I don't believe I ever used those words, but it does depend on your definition of a dynasty. No one is ever going to go on another run like Virginia did in the 90's. You will almost certainly never see a team make 5 finals in 8 years as IU did in the 70's/80's and it is very highly unlikely you will see anyone approach IU's feat of 4 wins in 7 years of the late 90's/early 00's. If that is your definition of a dynasty, then... yes... they are very likely gone... at least in the current landscape and that landscape will only get more difficult for the traditional powers in the foreseeable future.

Have the Hoosiers underperformed in the tournament the past few years (the title run excepted)? An argument can certainly be made to support that statement, but if you're going to remember the disappointments, don't forget the 8th star we gathered just six years ago. I think most fans have been slow to perceive the shift in the college game and overestimate the gap between the traditional powers and everyone else these days. Our underperformance is not nearly as great as some believe.

Indiana is an elite soccer program and is perceived as such nationally, but our lead is not what it once was over everyone else in the B1G. The other schools take the sport much more seriously (not to mention we've added Maryland... another soccer blue blood.) We're going to have to reset our expectations. The days when Jerry Yeagley, Bruce Arena and Sigi Schmid could just roll out a ball and watch their teams overwhelm their opponents with superior talent are gone. As a Hoosier fan, I find that's a bit of a downer. As a soccer fan in general, I find that very exciting.

Go Indiana! Beat Purdue!
 
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