Indiana Basketball: November schedule sets Hoosiers up for great start

The Hoosiers open their season a week from today when they host Western Illinois. Could any easy November schedule set the Hoosiers up for a tournament run?

College basketball is almost back and the Indiana Hoosiers are looking to make it back to the NCAA tournament this year. It all starts off on November 5th when the Hoosiers welcome Western Illinois into Assembly Hall to kick off the season.

The Hoosiers are a fringe tournament team right now as they try to bounce back after a disappointing season last year. Gone are Romeo Langford and Juwan Morgan, but Devonte Green and company want to prove they are better off without them.

The best thing to break in a fairly inexperienced team, is to get wins early. While Indiana’s schedule is nothing to write home about, it gives the Hoosiers the opportunity to do just that. They play zero Power 5 schools in the month of November and should be a big favorite in every one of those games.

None of the teams they play made the tournament last year and outside of Princeton, there is not much of a tradition at any school. South Dakota State hasn’t been bad lately and made the NIT, but it is still a game the Hoosiers should win, and one they don’t play until the end of the month.

For Hoosier fans, they hope these games won’t be that exciting but it is a set of games that should get Indiana off to a great start. The problem with the games is that the only thing they will probably be good for is wins. They aren’t going to be resume building wins and if they were to lose any of them they would appear in the bad loss category for the Hoosiers.

In the era of quad four wins, none of these wins would qualify as even a quad two win. South Dakota State would probably be the closest, but each one of these teams will probably sit firmly in quad three or even worse four.

But there is something to be said about getting a bunch of wins in a row and building momentum and that is what this schedule will do. Once the calendar turns to December the Hoosiers will only play power five schools as they play Florida State, Notre Dame, UConn, and Arkansas to round out their non-conference schedule and then dive right into the Big Ten play.

The Hoosiers should make it to 7-0 by the time November ends and get plenty of opportunities for the offense to find its groove without Langford and Morgan. The worry for all Hoosiers fans is the hot start last year before skidding in conference play.  While that could happen again racking up wins early is never a bad thing.

So while the November schedule looks less than appetizing, the Hoosiers should take advantage and get off to a great start.