Indiana Basketball: Big Ten tournament preview, Hoosiers face tough draw
By Adam Childs
The Indiana Basketball team will head to Indianapolis to play in the Big Ten tournament this week. The Hoosiers will look to solidify their NCAA tournament chances with a strong showing.
The Big Ten has been the best conference in the country this year and it has also been the craziest. There are currently 11 of the 14 teams either on the bubble or firmly in the field of 68.
Wisconsin came out of nowhere to claim a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship and Rutgers surprised everyone in finishing with a winning conference record, setting themselves up for an NCAA berth for the first time in decades.
This all bodes well for the Indiana Hoosiers, that despite a 9-11 conference record and an 11th place finish in the regular season they are still on the right side of the bubble in almost all bracket projections.
The Hoosiers still need to win at least one game if not two in the Big Ten tournament, and they should be able to at least get past the first day. Indiana will face the struggling Nebraska Cornhuskers in the second game on Wednesday in Indianapolis. The Cornhuskers have been without two of their top players who are indefinitely suspended and their status is still up in the air. Even with those two players back the Hoosiers still should be able to get by Nebraska.
The draw after that is rough for the Hoosiers. In the second round, they would have to play Penn State, who despite recent struggles is still a very dangerous team. Lamar Stevens is one of the best players int he Big Ten and can lead the Nittany Lions passed almost anybody in the conference.
Win that and they have to take on a Maryland team who just won a share of the Big Ten and are a matchup problem for the Hoosiers. Get to the semifinals and who would be waiting? Probably the hottest team in the Big Ten in Michigan State. If the Hoosiers can somehow manage to win all four of those games, they still would have to beat one of a number of teams in the championship game, including Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, or Michigan.
The draw is not kind to the Hoosiers if they are looking to make a run, but if they could pull it off it would be one of the best weeks ever by a Big Ten team in the conference tournament.
No matter what happens it should be a crazy week and it wouldn’t be a surprise if anyone of the top 11 teams won the whole thing. It should be the most exciting and unpredictable tournament in the country this year and should be a lot of fun.
We preview the favorites, sleepers and make some predictions as we gear up for what should be an awesome week of basketball.