Indiana St. rebounds after snapping losing steak

TERRE HAUTE, IND. (AP) - Shakir Bell sits across a table in a small conference room, shaking his head.

He still can’t believe the tales he heard about Indiana State’s 33-game losing streak, its 2-60 mark over 5 1/2 seasons or the players who preferred anything over winning games.

It makes it tough to fathom how much has changed over the last four years, since Trent Miles took over as Sycamores coach in 2008 and Bell became arguably the school’s biggest recruit since Larry Bird. What Bird did for Indiana State basketball in the 1970s is what Bell hopes to do for a football program that has finally shed its image as a perennial loser and started talking openly about a national championship.

Dallas is home to this year’s Football Championship Subdivision title game Jan. 5. The Sycamores’ road to Dallas begins Sept. 1 with a game at Indiana.

“We’re not just trying to get in the playoffs this year, we’re trying to win everything,” Bell said, his eyes growing in size. “I’ve always wanted to play in those lights and under that type of pressure, and I can see us going to Dallas and having some fun.”

Three years ago, a comment like that would have drawn nothing but snickers and snide comments at the student union. But after the last two seasons, people in the small-town community have come to the realization that the wafting smell of tailgate parties in the football parking lot this fall suggests a strong measure of hope at Indiana State, an indication that anything is possible.

“When we came here we were competing to win games,” Miles said. “Now we’re competing for a national championship.”

Indiana State has won 13 games since ending The Streak midway through the 2009 season. The other three teams still ahead of the Sycamores on the NCAA’s list for longest Division I losing streaks combined for only 20 wins over the next three-plus years _ Prairie View A&M (7), Columbia (5) and Northwestern (10). That means the Sycamores can surpass the combined total with an eight-win season this fall.

Consider, too, that Indiana State’s 12 wins over the past two seasons are just one fewer than its total over the previous eight .

But the changes in Terre Haute go deeper than stats.

Attendance has more than doubled since 2007, jumping from about 2,500 to roughly 6,500 last season. Fundraising has increased and talk about disbanding the football program has ceased.

Bell heads into his junior season as a favorite to win the Walter Payton Award, the FCS’ version of the Heisman Trophy, after finishing in a tie for second last season. Defensive lineman Ben Obaseki is being billed as a preseason favorite for the Buck Buchanan Award, which goes to the nation’s best defensive player. Myles Walker, a 6-foot-8 all-state football player in Texas who was once recruited by the likes of LSU, has used up his basketball eligibility and will play football in his final college season.

And around campus, things have changed, too. Players once too embarrassed to go outside are now embraced by their peers.

“Professors congratulate them and I never see mocking or downgrading of players now,” said Justin Todd, a senior majoring in social studies education. “It’s been a real positive for this school.”

Players credit the transformation to Miles‘ unwavering determination to fix a program he grew up watching.

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