Indiana Basketball: 3 best March Madness moments since 2000

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Indiana basketball, Jordan Hulls, Christian Watford, Tyler Zeller, NCAA Tournament. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images) /

3. Hoosiers return to NCAA Tournament in 2012

While many people may forget about this moment in Indiana history, it was a crucial one for the stability of the program.

After the Kelvin Sampson issues in 2008 that put Indiana on probation, the Hoosiers fell to not only the bottom of the Big Ten standings for the next few years, but became one of the worst teams in all of D-I basketball.

Then 2012 came around. The Hoosiers received an at-large big to the Big Dance that year after a 25-8 record during the regular season.

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After winning its first round matchup against New Mexico St, the Hoosiers went all the way back to the Sweet 16 before falling to eventual National Champion Kentucky.

The Hoosiers were led by Christian Watford who averaged 19.0 points on 48 percent shooting from the field and 52.9 percent from deep.

Despite the ending of the season, it was a year in which the Hoosiers become relevant again and back in the national spotlight.

Because of the direction of the program before 2012, this was such a major step back in the right direction and Tom Crean proved to be the ‘savior’ of Indiana basketball.

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