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In terms of crowd environment, game pace, notable highlights and overall vibe, Indiana's authoritative 76-67 home victory against third-ranked North Carolina on Wednesday night was one of the five most enjoyable watches we've been treated to in college basketball this season.

And so in the aftermath of that goodness, I'm building out this piece on IU and I've got the TV on in the background. It's Scott Van Pelt's superb and informative nightly SportsCenter show. But he wraps up the UNC-IU segment with an odd comment, something that erroneously pervades far too much drive-by commentary on college basketball at this time of the year.

"Does the game mean much," Van Pelt rhetorically asked of Indiana's win.

"No."

Agh. Not this again. SVP, you're way wrong here, good sir.

Indiana's victory absolutely means something -- something significant. Van Pelt's one-off comment speaks to a sentiment that permeates too commonly in early season college hoops discourse. But its dismissive nature now is something a lot of fans and pundits conveniently ignore by the time we get to March. The same people you hear asking things like "what does this game mean?" will be the ones who point to great wins or bad losses on Selection Sunday when we discuss tourney snubs or debatable seed lines.

But there is no debate on this game. The selection committee has proven for years now that these high-profile November games matter. There is weight to this Indiana victory. Significant weight. Nonconference strength of schedule and victories against ranked teams carry cache all the way to Selection Sunday. It's a near-lock that Indiana's seed will be one line higher in March because of this win vs. what it would have been with a home loss in an alternate universe.

Consider this: North Carolina entered the night having played 280 minutes this season. For 279 minutes and 44 seconds, UNC had the lead. Against Indiana, it trailed from start to finish. IU passed the eye test and the metric test.

The Hoosiers were awesome, looking as good as their best as anyone in the country. When Indiana's offense is in full flex, they can score with -- and above -- anyone. IU got out to a 26-9 lead, and suddenly Assembly Hall looked like the best place in America to be on Wednesday night.

Peep the OG Anunoby dunk again.

Indiana clinched a second victory over an elite team. That's the critical element. The Hoosiers now own the two best wins in America. No one's really close, either. Indiana is the only team with victories against two top-10 teams. The first came on the opening night of the season, in Hawaii, with that OT dub against Kansas.

Kansas hasn't lost since that game. They have, however, defeated Duke -- who subsequently hasn't lost to any other team.

That's great for Indiana.

North Carolina's only loss of the season is now at the hands of Tom Crean.

Two huge cards to hold for the rest of the way. Indiana is now in the driver's seat for a No. 1 seed. They can lose their standing, of course, but right now those wins amount to so much more than that "road" loss to Fort Wayne on Nov. 22. To compare, here's how other teams currently stack up with their two best wins:

Kansas' two best wins: Duke and ... Georgia.

Wisconsin's two best wins: Syracuse and ... Georgetown.

Villanova's two best wins: Purdue ... and Wake Forest.

Kentucky's two best wins: Michigan State and ... Arizona State.

North Carolina's two best wins: Wisconsin and ... Oklahoma State.

Some teams, like Baylor (wins over Louisville and Oregon), Louisville (Wichita State and Purdue), and Gonzaga (Florida and Iowa State) already have a strong pair of victories. But no one can match Indiana's KU and UNC conquests.

IU entered the night 19th in KenPom; UNC was third. It wakes up on Thursday at No. 13 in those rankings, while UNC slips to fifth.

Indiana, now at 5-1, has two more big-time opportunities left on the non-con schedule: vs. Butler in Indianapolis on Dec. 17 and vs. Louisville in Indianapolis on New Year's Eve. Those teams currently combine for a 13-1 record. Split those, win all the home games against filler opponents, and IU will enter 2017 with one of the best dossiers in the sport. That's not the case without the North Carolina win.

The Hoosiers look like the best team in the Big Ten, and if that winds up being the case, they'll unquestionably have a "1" next to their name by the time we get to March.