NCAA Bracketology: Finally, Indiana Looks Set to Dance into NCAA Tourney
It's not official until Sunday night, but Indiana is now pretty well assured of playing in the NCAA Tournament this year. It's going to be a moment worth celebrating, because it's been six long years since the Hoosiers have danced.
Six very long years.
"Well, that's a great, great feeling, and I think it's great for our program, really,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson said Saturday when asked about more than likely being in the NCAA field. "And these players, it's been about these guys ever since we started the journey. It's been fun because it's kind of been a rollercoaster ride watching these guys develop over this season so far.
"But the thing that I like about our team, man, we are competitive. Even though we've lost a lot of close games, we are very, very competitive. From a coaching standpoint that's all you can ask for, but I think it's great for our program, it's fantastic that we're back in the big dance.''
Upset victories over Michigan and Illinois have Indiana in the field now, according to the leading bracketologists. Most of them have been updating their projected brackets every day. Here's what they're saying on Saturday morning.
Joe Lunardi, ESPN
In two days, Indiana has moved from the last team in, to the top of the last four in and now, as of Saturday morning, as the last of the last four byes.
Safely in, in other words.
Lunardi has nine Big Ten teams in, with Rutgers in the last four byes, and Michigan in the last four in. Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan State have been locks for a while.
He has Indiana as an 11-seed, playing No. 6 in the first round of the South Regional in San Diego, Calif. No. 3 seed Texas Tech would be the likely second-round opponent. Lunardi has Arizona and Duke as the top two seeds in that region.
Here's the link to Lunardi's latest full field, which will certainly be updated often in the next two days: CLICK HERE
Mike DeCoursy, FOX Sports
DeCoursy has Indiana in his last four in, and that was BEFORE the Hoosiers beat Illinois on Friday afternoon, so they are solidly in now. He had Indiana playing Wake Forest in a Dayton play-in game, but the Hoosiers have bettered that now, for sure.
Here's their latest, which will likely be updated on Saturday at some point. CLICK HERE
Jerry Palm, CBS Sports
Jerry Palm of CBS Sports finally has Indiana in his bracket now, as well. He's got Indiana as a No. 11 seed too, playing No. 6 seed LSU, but in Pittsburgh as part of the East Regional. A win would get a date with No. 3 seed Villanova.
He has only seven Big Ten teams in right now, with Rutgers and Michigan in his last four out.
Palm has Kentucky and Purdue as the top two seeds in his East regional. Here's the link to his latest projections, which were updated Saturday morning. CLICK HERE
Andy Katz, Big Ten Network
Katz has Indiana clearly in the field now, and they've moved up his seed line two days in a row now, too.
He's got nine teams in as well. Here's his video after Friday night's Big Ten games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
And since it's looking like reality, here are a few things to know about this year's NCAA Tournament. It's back to normal this year after the entire tournament was played in Indiana a year ago because of COVID.
It's a 68-team field, with four play-in games for the last two No. 12 and No. 16 seeds. Here's all the dates and locations.
- Selection Sunday: 6 p.m. ET March 13 on CBS
- First Four: March 15-16
- First round: March 17-18
- Second round: March 19-20
- Sweet 16: March 24-25
- Elite Eight: March 26-27
- Final Four: April 2
- NCAA championship game: April 4
First/Second Round Locations
- March 17-19 dates (Thursday-Saturday)
- Indianapolis, Ind, — Gainbridge Fieldhouse
- Buffalo, N.Y. — KeyBank Center
- Portland, Ore. — Moda Center
- Fort Worth, Texas — Dickies Arena
- March 18-20 dates (Friday-Sunday)
- Greenville, S.C. — Bon Secours Wellness Arena
- Milwaukee, Wis.— Fiserv Forum
- Pittsburgh, Pa. — PPG Paints Arena
- San Diego, Calif. — Viegas Arena
Regional Locations
- March 24-26 dates (Thursday-Saturday)
- San Antonio, Texas — AT&T Center
- San Francisco, Calif. — Chase Center
Regional Locations
- March 25-27 dates (Friday-Sunday)
- Chicago, Ill. — United Center
- Philadelphia, Pa — Wells Fargo Center
Final Four Location
- April 2-4 dates (Saturday-Monday)
- New Orleans, La. — Caeser's Superdome
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- IOWA FAVORED OVER INDIANA: Indiana and Iowa meet in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday, and for the third straight day, the Hoosiers will have their hands full. Iowa is red-hot and scoring like crazy, which makes them a big favorite to win. Here's what both teams have done against the number this season, with some interesting trends. CLICK HERE
- GAME STORY: For the second straight day, Indiana pulled off a dramatic upset at the Big Ten Tournament, this time knocking off No. 1 seed Illinois 65-63 behind Trayce Jackson-Davis' jump shots and made free throws. Indiana will play Iowa in the semifinals on Saturday. CLICK HERE
- TOM BREW COLUMN: All of the hard work and heartache from this regular season is starting to reap benefits in the Big Ten Tournament for Indiana, and even though he doesn't want it, coach Mike Woodson deserves a lot of credit for that. CLICK HERE
- WHAT JACKSON-DAVIS AND JOHNSON SAID: Hoosier forward Trayce Jackson-Davis and guard Xavier Johnson led the Hoosiers to defeat No. 1-seed Illinois 65-63 in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals. Read their full transcripts, or just watch the attached video of the entire press conference. CLICK HERE.
- WHAT WOODSON SAID: Here's what Indiana coach Mike Woodson said after Friday's upset win over No. 1-seeded Illinois. CLICK HERE
- LIVE BLOG: Relive all the play-by-play from Indiana's dramatic 65-63 win over top-seeded Illinois on Friday. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA VS. ILLINOIS PHOTO GALLERY: Look inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 30 photos from Indiana's 65-63 win over the No. 1-seed Fighting Illini. CLICK HERE
- TOURNAMENT RESULTS, SCHEDULE: Here are all the results from the Big Ten Tournament thus far, and the remaining schedule. CLICK HERE
