Let's not bury the lead here. Indiana needs Mackenzie Holmes to be as close to 100% as possible. Holmes is practicing ahead of their first-round Saturday afternoon matchup against Fairfield.
"I would say I'm feeling much different than I was last March versus this March," Holmes said on Sunday. I think I practiced maybe once or twice leading up to the Miami game, even after the Big Ten Tournament. So I'm now in practices doing pretty much everything, so I'm feeling a lot better this March than I was last March, which is a great thing for me."
With Holmes ready to go, the Hoosiers are set to make a run in March Madness. Here is a look at the teams in Indiana's Bloomington Bracket::
#25 Fairfield Stags 31-1:
Only the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks have a better record than the 25th-ranked Stags. Fairfield won the MAAC regular season and conference titles. Led by freshman forward Meghan Andersen, the Stags dominated the MAAC but had to hold on to win their conference tournament.
The Stags come into this first round game confident, and they should be. They are ranked in the top 25 and haven't lost since November. That said, it's going to be a tough road for Fairfield against Indiana. They don't have the size to match up with the Hoosiers, who are one of the best defensive teams in college basketball.
Florida Gulf Coast Eagles 29-4:
Like the Stags, the Eagles won the A-Sun regular season and conference title. Led by guard Emani Jefferson, the FGCU dominated the Atlantic Sun Conference, going undefeated (16-0). The Eagles dominated the conference tournament, winning games by an average of 19.3 points.
The Eagles have been here before. They've won first-round games as a 12th seed the last two years. This is an experienced, veteran team and many of the juniors and seniors were part of those teams that won NCAA Tournament games. The Sooners had better be ready, or they could go home early.
#18 Oklahoma Sooners 22-9:
The Sooners won the Big 12 regular season title before getting upset by Iowa State in the conference tournament. Their game against Florida Gulf Coast should be one of the more entertaining opening weekend matchups. The Sooners can flat score, and they proved that in conference play.
Forward Skylar Vann can score at all three levels, and Payton Verhulst can knock down the open three-pointer. They had better be ready to play Florida Gulf Coast. Although they can score, the Sooners do have holes defensively.