Indiana Women's Basketball Still Projected No. 4 Seed, Host in NCAA Tournament
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana women’s basketball is still projected as the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament with Selection Sunday fast approaching, which would enable the Hoosiers to host the opening two rounds in Bloomington.
With the notable conference tournaments wrapped up, it looks like the Hoosiers can breathe a sigh of relief. But they did have to sweat for a bit after losing in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament to No. 6 Michigan on March 8. Now it appears Kansas State, Syracuse, Utah and Oklahoma — the projected No. 5 seeds in the field — didn’t quite do enough in their respective conference tournaments to bump Indiana.
Syracuse, the third-best team in the ACC Tournament, lost its opening contest. Oklahoma, as the top team in the Big 12 Tournament, got trounced in the semifinals. Utah, as the No. 6 in the PAC-12 Tournament, lost in the quarterfinals to UCLA. The wins these teams got before elimination were to projected No. 8 seeds or lower, which does not appear enough move them up.
Kansas State had an intriguing situation. In the Big 12 Tournament, the Wildcats beat West Virginia in the quarterfinals, projected as the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But they then lost by seven points to the projected No. 2 Texas in the semifinals. Had the Wildcats won, they probably would’ve jumped up to the No. 4 line. In late February, Kansas State had two poor losses. The recent showings could turn back the favor.
While Indiana’s loss to Michigan was an upset, the Hoosiers don’t have many others besides that. Yes, the deficits in their road losses were colossal, but those were at projected No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Another plus is Indiana will have two full weeks for Mackenzie Holmes and Lilly Meister to heal their injuries. The selection committee takes that into account, and it may be help Indiana to hold onto hosting.
Even after the Hoosiers lost to Michigan, they have clung to the host spot under the latest projections from ESPN's Bracketology.
“I think our body of work speaks for itself,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said March 8. “We are not healthy, by any stretch of the means. I think that has to be part of the criteria or whatever they look at. This is, this is not Indiana at full health right now … but I do believe this: that come tournament time in two weeks, we will have a much different looking, healthier basketball team.”
The Selection Show will be held at 8 p.m. ET Sunday and will be broadcast on ESPN.
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