The Indiana basketball team finds themselves on the wrong side of the bubble in the newest bracketology from Joe Lunardi on ESPN.com.
Indiana went to Michigan on Sunday looking for a big road win and a chance to get themselves out of the last four in portion of most bracketologist projections. Instead, they lost by 24 and now are on the outside looking in.
In the latest update to Joe Lunardi’s bracketology on ESPN.com, he has the Hoosiers as the first team out. Joining Indiana in the first four out, is Alabama, Richmond, and Mississippi State.
The teams now directly above the Hoosiers are East Tennessee State, Utah State, USC, and Georgetown. None of those teams exactly have a great resume and if Indiana can take care of business they should be able to jump them into the bracket.
Indiana must find a way to get a win on the road if they want to improve their chances. They have six games left and three of them are on the road. Any of their wins on the road would be good wins as they face Minnesota, Purdue, and Illinois away from Assembly Hall. Pick up a win on the road and win all three at home and the Hoosiers should be in good shape.
The fact that the Hoosiers find themselves on the wrong side of the bubble right now, shows how many people view their non-conference part of their schedule. November was filled with wins, but not a single one of them were big wins.
The non-conference schedule is pulling down the fact that the Hoosiers have some great wins. They own wins against four ranked opponents at the time they played them and that should help but they have to finish the season strong.
The Hoosiers definitely don’t want to be in a position where they have to make the final four in the Big Ten conference tournament in order to feel safe. The conference tournament could be wild and the Hoosiers could make it there but to have to count on that would be disastrous for Indiana.
Indiana gets their next chance at a road win Wednesday night when they head to Minneapolis to take on the Golden Gophers. They would do themselves a big favor by winning there and giving themselves another shot at a big win on Sunday when they host top-ten Penn State.
The Hoosiers may be on the wrong end of the bubble right now, but pick up two big wins this week and they could be looking at a completely different story next week.