The Indiana basketball team is once again on the very tenuous bubble for the NCAA tournament in the latest Bracketology on ESPN.com.
The Indiana Hoosiers are currently sitting as one of the last four teams in the NCAA Tournament according to ESPN.com bracketologist Joe Lunardi. Just last week it looked like the Hoosiers were firmly in the tournament but an uninspiring home loss to Purdue has now put them on the very edge of the bubble.
If Lunardi’s predictions hold true the Hoosiers are currently penciled in to play Stanford in one of the first four games in Dayton. Win that and they would head to Tampa to play six-seeded LSU, while also having Florida State in their bracket.
Obviously these are all projections, but being one of the last four teams in could present a harder challenge than the one that would await the Hoosiers in this projection. Stanford has been up and down this year, LSU is a good but not great team, and while Florida State is currently playing very good basketball the Hoosiers have proved they can beat them already this year.
All of this, of course, won’t matter if the Hoosiers can’t find ways to start winning games. They are currently on a five-game losing streak including their last two at home. They face a tough game with Iowa on Thursday night, in what yet again seems like a must-win for the Hoosiers.
The good news for the Hoosiers is that if they start winning again they should be fine. Their resume is about as good as any other team on the bubble, with very good wins against Florida State, Ohio State, and Michigan State. Their worst loss statistically this year is to Arkansas which is 43 in the NET rankings currently. The quality of losses isn’t hurting the Hoosiers, it is just the lack of wins recently.
If the Hoosiers can pick up a win against Iowa and steal a road win or two before the season ends they should be fine as far as a berth goes, but they are now in a position where they have very little room for error. They must start winning soon or it will be an invitation to the NIT once again.