Indiana Basketball: Is tonight a must win for Hoosiers?

The Indiana basketball team hosts Nebraska on Friday night. It is early in the Big Ten schedule, but it is already a must-win?

The Hoosiers are coming off a hard-fought win against UConn at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. In a game that featured no Hoosiers in double-figures, they were able to use their defense and free throw shooting to hold off the Huskies.

It came a game after Indiana got blown out in their Big Ten opener at Wisconsin. The Badgers had not been playing well and turned around and lost to Rutgers, so it is a borderline bad loss for the Hoosiers. It was a game that kind of came as a shock after Indiana had just upset Florida State at Assembly Hall. But going on the road for the first time proved to be too much for the Hoosiers.

Now they are looking to get their first Big Ten win Friday night when they host Nebraska. It is a game the Hoosiers should definitely win, but is it a must-win?

It is strange to think game number two out of 19 conference games would be a must-win, but it sure feels that way for the Hoosiers. Nebraska is probably the worst team in the Big Ten right now and has already been beat by UC Riverside and Southern Utah. The Cornhuskers are really struggling and really shouldn’t have a shot tonight especially with it being in Bloomington.

While the game technically won’t kill the Hoosiers shot at being in the top half of the Big Ten or making the tournament, it would definitely be a blemish on their resume. What makes this game even more important is that after the Hoosiers step back out of conference to play Notre Dame and Arkansas, they must play Maryland and Ohio State, two of the best teams in the conference, in two of the next three games.

While those aren’t definite losses, they are tough games and would be an upset if Indiana wins. If they were to lose to Nebraska on Friday they could be staring down 1-4 or 0-5 in the conference and that could torpedo their goals for the year.

Last year is all too fresh in the minds of the fans, were the Hoosiers started off on fire and then had a big-time slump in the middle of the year that cost them a shot at the NCAA Tournament. Most people would see this season as a disappointment if they don’t make the tournament and losing to Nebraska would bring in a lot of doubts about that happening.

If you want to be a good to elite team this is the type of game they have to win. They can’t afford to lose a home game against the bottom of the Big Ten. So while it is strange to think of a game in December being must-win, this would definitely qualify. Win the game as you should and you feel good about yourself, but lose and all of the sudden people will question if the Hoosiers are just a product of an easy November schedule.

This team can compete with anybody, now they just need to show it in the Big Ten.