Missing the NCAA Tournament last season was bad enough for Indiana basketball. After making the tournament in back-to-back seasons, the Hoosiers are now on the brink of missing March Madness in back-to-back seasons.
The Hoosiers have hit a rough patch in their season, and it really could not have come at a worse time. Indiana is just 1-4 in their last five games and is currently on a two-game losing streak as they get ready to head to Purdue to play the No. 10 Boilermakers. Losing five out of six games could put Indiana really behind when it comes to the NCAA Tournament.
Last week, when ESPN NCAA Tournament expert Joe Lunardi released his weekly Bracketology updates of the teams he believes will make the tournament and where they will be seeded, he had the Hoosiers as a part of the "Last Four In" group, meaning it's close, but the Hoosiers were just making it in.
A week later, after losing to Northwestern and Maryland, Lunardi now has the Hoosiers as a part of the "First Four Out" group. This means that the Hoosiers are just barely missing the tournament, but are still right there on the cusp of making it in, they just need to start winning again.
Through this stretch of losses for Indiana, there is a lot being said about head coach Mike Woodson and whether or not he has control over this team, or is going to return next season as the Hoosier's head coach. It just doesn't seem like this team is working well together and is hitting a rough match.
In this stretch of five games, it comes down to the simplest thing of defense and offense. During this stretch, opponents are averaging 82.6 points per game against Indiana, while Indiana is averaging just 70.8 points per game. That is a huge difference and with the struggles the Hoosiers are having on offense, that means their defense needs to be stronger and it just isn't.
Indiana isn't out of the NCAA Tournament yet, There is still a lot of basketball to be played, including the Big Ten Tournament, in which the Hoosiers could go on a run and shock everyone. However, they need to pull it together soon, or it is going to get out of reach fast.