The Indiana Hoosiers are in as the women's basketball team received the 9-seed in the Birmingham Region and will head to play their first-round matchup in Columbia, South Carolina. The Hoosiers are set to take on the 8-seeded Utah Utes, a team Indiana has yet to face in their program history.
After an impressive win in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament against 8-seed Oregon, the Hoosiers played a tough and close game, almost knocking out 1-seed USC of the tournament, but ultimately couldn't hold on late as the Trojans found life.
Now, with nearly two weeks off before they step on the court, Indiana will have the opportunity to take down a solid opponent in Utah and move onto the second round, where they would face the winner of 1-seed South Carolina and 16-seed Tennessee Tech.
How to watch No. 9 Indiana vs. No. 8 Utah in the NCAA Tournament Round 1
- Date: Friday, March 21
- Time: 1:30 p.m. EST
- Channel: ESPN2
- Streaming: NCAA March Madness Live I FuboTV
- Announcers: TBA
No. 9 Indiana vs. No. 8 Utah NCAA Tournament Round 1 odds
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook
Spread
- Utah: +2.5 (-106)
- Indiana: -2.5 (-114)
Moneyline
- Utah: +126
- Indiana: -154
Total
- O/U 137.5 (-110/-110)
No. 9 Indiana vs. No. 8 Utah NCAA Tournament Round 1 prediction
The Indiana Hoosiers are not foreign to the NCAA Tournament, but they are foreign to playing against the Utah Utes. As mentioned earlier, this will be the first time these two teams have ever met, so there will be a lot of scouting for both teams.
Indiana has shown that when they are hot brome beyond the three-point arc, they are a tough team to beat. This season, when the Hoosiers have made more than 10 3-pointers, they are 9-0, which includes their first game in the Big Ten tournament against Oregon. The good news for Indiana is that Utah allows their opponent a 33.4 shooting percentage from beyond the arc, which is favorable for the Hoosiers.
However, Utah is averaging 76.7 points per game in a tough Big 12 conference, so Indiana is going to have to bring their best defense to court to hope to move onto the second round to face the winner of 1-seed South Carolina and 16-seed Tennessee Tech.
I am going to go with Indiana getting the narrow victory against Utah with Yarden Garzon hitting a dagger three-pointer to force Utah to begin fouling and the Hoosiers hitting their free throws.