Indiana Basketball Bracketology: Hoosiers On Bubble Entering Regular Season Finale

Ahead of Saturday's matchup, Indiana and Ohio State were both listed on the NCAA Tournament bubble in Joe Lunardi's most recent Bracketology on ESPN, released Friday morning.

Indiana's bench celebrates during Tuesday's game at Oregon. / Photo credit Indiana Athletics

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana has been fighting to make the NCAA Tournament, and its hopes come down to a few crucial games.

On Joe Lunardi's latest ESPN Bracketology released Friday morning, the Hoosiers were listed as one of the last four teams in the tournament field. Indiana was ahead of Boise State and Xavier but behind San Diego State, giving the Hoosiers the slightest bit of room off the cut line.

This projection gives Indiana a No. 11 seed and sets up the Hoosiers against fellow No. 11 seed San Diego State in the First Four round in Dayton, Ohio. That game would be played on March 18 or 19 at UD Arena.

Here's a look at the South region.

ESPN's Joe Lunardi gave Indiana a No. 11 seed in his latest Bracketology. / espn.com

With Indiana right on the bubble, Saturday's game against Ohio State is extremely important. The Buckeyes were listed as one of the last four byes by Lunardi, so they're competing against Indiana for a tournament bid.

According to the website Bracketmatrix.com, Indiana is in the NCAA Tournament field in 87 of 92 projections. Indiana is between a No. 10 and a No. 12 seed, with an average seed of 11.11, according to those predictions.

Regardless of Saturday's result, both teams still may need to win a game or two in next week's Big Ten Tournament, depending on the results of other bubble teams and amount of bid stealers from mid-major conferences. The winner of Saturday's game earns the No. 9 seed and plays Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament, while the loser has to play Wednesday as the No. 10 seed.

"These guys have been fighting, fighting and fighting," Indiana coach Mike Woodson said Tuesday Oregon. "We have a break here or there, we wouldn't be having this conversation. We are in the mix of a battle. We got a chance to get to the Big Ten Tournament and anything can happen when you get into tournament play. Right now, we are staring Ohio State in the face and we got to go figure that out."

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