Indiana basketball was on the brink of giving up all hope of making it to the NCAA Tournament after they lost five games in a row. However, a huge win over Michigan State in East Lansing broke something open in the Hoosiers. Even though they lost a tough one against UCLA, Indiana came back after more than a week off and played a great game against No. 13 Purdue, even mounting a comeback in the second half.
The Hoosiers, surprisingly, are not out of contention for the NCAA Tournament, even with a 16-11 record and a 7-9 Big Ten record. With some big wins on the season, Indiana has shown enough to still have a chance to make it into the Tournament, and ESPN NCAA Tournament expert Joe Lunardi agrees.
In the latest release of his famous Bracketology, Lunardi's prediction of who is in and just out of the tournament, the Hoosiers are sitting as the second team in the "First Four Out" category just after UNC, who is currently sitting as the first to miss out on the tournament rankings-wise.
Indiana has a chance to jump into that "Last Four In" sport with some wins this week against teams the Hoosiers have no business losing to. Indiana's next matchup is tomorrow, February 26, against Penn State, the worst team in the Big Ten as of right now. If Indiana were to lose that game, they could probably kiss their shot at the NCAA Tournament goodbye.
Looking at the rest of Indiana's schedule, the Hoosiers take on Washington after their matchup against Penn State, another game Indiana definitely needs to win. Winning both of those games by good margins should boost the Hoosiers back into one of those last four spots.
The last two games of the season are crucial for Indiana, though, as they are set to take on two teams that are basically already in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosier take a trip to Eugene to take on Oregon on March 4 and then return home to take on Ohio State in their final game of the season on March 8.
If Indiana can win both of those games, that would put them at 20-11 for the season and 11-9 in Big Ten play, putting them over .500 for both overall and conference records. Indiana has to think about winning out the rest of the season to give them the best chance at making the NCAA Tournament. Winning also takes the pressure off of the Hoosiers in the Big Ten Tournament and not feeling like they have to make it incredibly far to prove themselves.