Indiana Basketball: Best and Worst case scenario for Hoosiers in 2019-20

Best Case Scenario

The Hoosiers get off to a great start winning their first 13 games which include big wins against Florida State, UConn, Notre Dame, and Arkansas. It also gets them off to a 2-0 start in the Big Ten when they win at Wisconsin and beat Nebraska at home.

Maryland stops their winning streak, but Indiana rolls off four more wins, including an upset win of top ten Ohio State at home, to start the season 17-1 before the rough stretch of the Big Ten starts.

The can’t get over the Michigan State hump this year, but who can? Maryland gets them again at home, but they are able to beat both Iowa and hated rival Purdue at home. They complete the season sweep of the Boilermakers when they win in West Lafayette and they finish the Big Ten season 13-6. That is good enough for a third-place finish behind Michigan State and Maryland.

They beat Purdue a third time in the Big Ten tournament before losing to Maryland in the Semi-Finals. They get a three seed in the NCAA tournament and make the Sweet 16 when they upset six-seeded Houston and ex-coach Kelvin Sampson. They lose in the Sweet 16 in overtime the two-seeded Florida Gators in a great game.

Devonte Green becomes one of the best players in the Big Ten and is named to first-team All-Big Ten. He averages 18 points per game and is one of the best clutch shooters in the league. Joey Brunk is the glue the team needed and becomes a great inside threat to complement Green’s outside shooting. He averages just under 15 points per game and seven rebounds per.

Jerome Hunter comes back from his leg injury and is the third leading scorer on the team at just under 14 points per game. Freshman sensation Trayce Jackson-Davis is better than expected and also averages in double digits. He plays great but stays at IU and the future is looking bright for both him and Armaan Franklin.

Archie Miller wins Big Ten coach of the year for leading the Hoosiers to a third-place finish in the Big Ten and the rumblings for his job are all but gone. With the success of the Hoosiers, he reels in two five-star recruits and the Hoosiers are looked on as a favorite to win the conference title in 2020-21. The excitement in Bloomington is higher than it has been since Christian Watford hit a last-second shot to beat Kentucky. The future is red-hot for the Hoosiers.

To top it all off the Purdue Boilermakers miss the tournament and don’t even make the NIT. Nojel Eastern leaves for the NBA and it looks like the Boilermakers might be a bottom half team for the next season. All is good in Bloomington.