The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

A crucial cakewalk

The Indiana State Sycamores are a horrible team, to put it nicely.

It ranks last or almost last in just about every Gateway Conference statistical category and have a long-standing history of futility.

They have one conference win, they're not overly athletic - and they're dangerous. Please stop laughing. Seriously.

It took me 10 minutes to write this column and I'd appreciate it if you took me seriously.

Stop laughing.

Thank you.

SIU can lose to Indiana State Saturday, so don't get too cocky.

Is it likely? Not really. If I were a Vegas oddsmaker, I'd give gamblers as much as 200-1. But it is possible, if for no other reason than Indiana State having nothing to lose and should be considered dangerous. That, and a key predictor of the future - history.

In 1983, the year SIU won the Division I-AA championship, the undefeated Salukis were blown away by a pathetic Wichita State team in the last game of the regular season.

Wichita State was ready to play, and no one bothered to tell the Shockers they were a weak --- team.

Miraculously, SIU did not have to suffer for the loss, made the playoffs and did not lose homefield advantage.

But this team, unfortunately, does not have that luxury. A loss to Indiana State would likely mean winning a national championship entirely on the road, because I guarantee the Division I-AA big wigs are dying to see SIU fall flat on its face.

That's what's at stake here. The Salukis are playing for homefield advantage in the playoffs, something I pray they receive because I, like many of you, do not want to make a road trip the week before finals.

All Indiana State is playing for is, well, pride. They have all winter to sit on their posteriors, so you know the Sycamores will do their best to make Saturday count. They could be the spoilers in a game SIU needs dearly.

This team's success requires nothing less than running the Division I-AA table to overcome the NCAA's anti-SIU prejudice.

For those who don't know, the Division I-AA football does not like SIU. To them, we are a campus of primitive rejects who cannot tell a hash mark from a hash pipe.

The selection committee wants the Salukis to fail and made that quite obvious last year after sending No. 5 SIU to play at No. 2 Delaware.

Losing is not an option, and from what I've been hearing from this team, a loss is not likely. They're saying, and hopefully thinking, the right things.

Safety Alexis Moreland said the only thing that is likely to lose the game for his team is apathy, and he said this team is not about to overlook Indiana State.

It's cliché, I know. Every athlete says that.

But one thing I've learned about this team is that they do not just spout clichés. They live them.

Kill does not even have to tell his team how to think anymore. The clichés are deeply engrained, and this team is not going to look past Saturday.

The 2004 Salukis really do take it one game at a time, only care about helping the team and go the full nine yards. They give 110 percent, only worry about what they're doing and just play football.

That type of attitude is kryptonite to sportswriters, but it is also what creates winners, and SIU's clichés could be the key to sealing potentially the greatest season in school history.

Indiana State can win. The fans may not realize it, and the writers are sick of hearing it, but the players believe it, and that is exactly why SIU will win and win big. Maybe.