Indiana Basketball Currently Projected as 'Last Four In' for NCAA Tournament
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — After getting blown out against Ohio State this past Saturday, Indiana's tournament status has become less certain than it was heading into the game.
This upcoming week is pivotal for Indiana with two winnable games at home. First up is Minnesota on Wednesday. The Gophers haven't won a road game this season and have lost all but one road game by double digits.
Then Indiana hosts Michigan State on Saturday. The Spartans haven't been able to string together any consistency and just lost to Iowa by 30.
Dropping one of these games could be detrimental to Indiana, so ahead of this big week, we take a look at where the Hoosiers stand in the most recent NCAA Tournament projections as of Monday, Feb. 15.
Mike DeCourcy
Mike DeCourcy of FoxSports, who is also a Big Ten Network analyst, has Indiana making the tournament, but just barely.
DeCourcy has the Hoosiers as one of the last four in, joining North Carolina, Stanford and Saint Bonaventure.
In his bracket, Indiana would play Saint Bonaventure in a play-in game, and the winner would face Creighton in the first round.
Jerry Palm
CBS Sports' Jerry Palm shares a similar opinion about the Hoosiers as DeCourcy did.
Palm also has Indiana as a last four in team. He has them paired with Drake, Minnesota and Seton Hall as the final four teams to make the tournament.
In his bracket, Indiana would play Seton Hall in the play-in game, and the winner of that would play USC in the first round.
Joe Lunardi
Archie Miller's favorite bracketologist Joe Lunardi hasn't updated his NCAA Tournament projections since Feb. 12, which means Lunardi's recent projections for Indiana are based on the Hoosiers' two wins over Iowa and Northwestern last week and don't take into the account the loss at Ohio State.
Lunardi has Indiana listed as a No. 10 seed at the moment. He has Indiana's first-round matchup coming against Colorado, where the winner would take on the winner of Alabama versus UMBC.
Lunardi has nine Big Ten teams making the field.
Indiana is in no way safely in the tournament at 11-9 overall and 6-7 in the Big Ten. The good thing is with five games left, Indiana has plenty of opportunities to secure its spot, but in order to do that, there is little room for error.
Indiana will take the floor again on Wednesday night against Minnesota at 9 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.
Related Stories on Indiana Basketball
- BIG TEN POWER RANKINGS: For Tom Brew's latest Big Ten power rankings, CLICK HERE
- INDIANA IN MUST-WIN TERRITORY: Indiana has two vital games for its tournament hopes this week. CLICK HERE
- SLOW STARTS PROVE FATAL FOR INDIANA: Indiana can't seem to get off to good starts, and it finally cost them on Saturday. CLICK HERE
