There are so many rumors swirling around this basketball program right now, I don’t know what to listen to, believe, or anticipate.

So much is up in the air.

All we really know is …

This could be the game that makes or breaks Indiana’s fading NCAA Tournament hopes … a win and we’re in; a loss and who knows.

This could be Tom Crean’s last home game as Indiana’s head basketball coach … or he could be back on the bench next year.

This could Yogi Ferrell’s last game as Indiana’s #11-clad point guard … or he could be back for a legacy-cementing senior season.

This could be Troy Williams’ last game as the most hurryin’ or Hoosiers … or he could be back to wreak havoc on the Big Ten as a junior.

This could be James Blackmon Jr.’s last game wearing the vaunted #1 jersey … or he could be back next year to try to duplicate what Jared Jeffries did wearing the same number as a sophomore.

This could be the final appearances of Tim Priller and Jeremiah April in Assembly Hall … or they both could be back next year to build on their oft-mentioned freshman campaigns.

This could be Stan Robinson’s final balls-to-the-walls appearance at Assembly Hall … or he could be back to intriguerize* us all next season.

* – I was about to type “intrigue and terrorize” but it morphed into one word, so I left it. Seemed fitting.

This could be Thomas Bryant’s final visit to Indiana’s campus before he makes his college decision … meaning what he sees today could dictate where he decides to play a year or two (or three or four).

This could be the last time the members of the 1974-75 Indiana Hoosiers — who, along with the 1992-93 Hoosiers, likely would have won a national title were it not for an unfortunate injury to a kickass power forward — get standing ovations in Assembly Hall.

Who knows.

Do you know?

I don’t know.

All I know is that for someone supposedly “in the know” I feel like just another die-hard in the dark.

Because everyone seems to know everything, yet no one actually knows anything.

Except for all that stuff I wrote above. That is all true.

And in times of uncertainty, such as these, truth will put us at ease and set us free.

In closing, I will say simply this:

You have a choice today, fellow IU fan …

You can speculate.

You can commiserate.

Or you can reiterate …

… your love for Indiana, your support for the Cream and the Crimson, and your desire, above all else, to see our basketball program and all who represent it held to a higher standard of commitment and cooperation.

Because we’re all in this together, if we choose to be.

Today may feel like just another game, but I say it’s something bigger. It’s a chance for Hoosier Nation, and the team we support, to stand up and declare who are and what we’re made of.

Together.

Let’s be part of something bigger than ourselves.

Coaches need to coach like hell. Players need to play like hell. And every single fan needs to cheer like hell in the Hall, on their couch, on Twitter, or wherever they are.

There has been too much division amongst us lately.

For 40 damn minutes let’s be one unified Hoosier Nation with one goal: to win, or collectively fight like the hell and support each other until the very end.

We may go down, but let’s at least go down together.

Cream. Crimson. Community.

Go Hoosiers.

Let’s beat the hell out of the Spartans.

Share this, spread the word, support your fellow Hoosier.