3. vs Ohio State – January 11
This is the Hoosier’s first big home game in the Big Ten. Before this, they play Nebraska and Northwestern at home and those should be wins, at least if Indiana wants to be a good team they will be.
Ohio State, like Maryland, is picked to be right behind Michigan State in the preseason conference rankings. They return the Wesson brothers and should be pretty good this year. This game and the Maryland games are big home games for the Hoosiers. They are against two schools that look like tournament teams. These would be great wins for the resume and if everything else goes according to plan could be what propels the Hoosiers into the tournament.
They aren’t games that the Hoosiers have to win, but the reward is much higher than any risk of a loss. They do need to get a few of these games if they want to not sweat as much come selection Sunday.
Last year the Buckeyes were prone to turning the ball over and if you get the crowd going like it does in Assembly Hall and that could rear its head again. The Hoosiers need to take advantage of that and put the pressure on them. If they can do that, this is a game they can win and make an early statement in the Big Ten.
This is definitely one of those momentum type games just like the next game on this list.