The Indiana Hoosiers NCAA Tournament dreams are like the zombie that just doesn’t die. Despite losing five of six, the Hoosiers still have an outside shot at an at-large bid to make the field of 68. Here is who IU fans should be rooting for or against as IU’s bubble fate will be determined this week in conference tournament play.
It depends on which bracketologist you follow, but IU is anywhere from Last Four In to First Four Out. That means any bid stealers and IU is in big trouble, so fans should want the favorites to win mid-major tournaments. It also means that IU needs teams in similar positions to drop games. IU can also help themselves by winning.
We will update this each day.
March 10th
ACC Tournament
2pm- Pitt over Stanford (Pitt won 64-63)
4;30pm- Syracuse over SMU (SMU won 86-69)
7pm- Wake Forest over Virginia Tech (Wake Forest won 95-89 OT)
Big XII
3pm Utah over Cincinnati (Cincinnati won 73-66)
Big Ten
7:30pm- Northwestern over Penn State- IU would get another Quad 2 opportunity instead of playing a dreadful Penn State team in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. (Northwestern won 76-66).
March 11
IU enters the day as Joe Lunardi’s “Last Team In”. The Hoosiers received some help yesterday with Pitt and Wake Forest winning and will get a Quad 2 opportunity tonight against Northwestern. He are some other games that IU fans should have their eyes on and a rooting interest in.
ACC Tournament
12pm Pitt vs. NC State (ESPN2)– NC State is one of the teams in the “Last Four Byes” category and a loss to Pitt would bring them back down a rung. It may not put them behind IU and a win certainly doesn’t hurt IU terribly. (NC State won 98-88)
230pm SMU vs. Louisville (ESPN)-SMU is in the “Last Four In Group” a loss probably puts them out. It may be hard for some IU fans to root for the Cardinals, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Big Ten
6:30pm- Indiana vs. Northwestern (BTN)– Indiana needs a win or its done. It’s that simple.
Big XII
3pm- Cincinnati vs. UCF (ESPNU)– UCF is in the “Last Four In” Cincinnati is “Next Four Out”. IU probably needs UCF to lose, but for the Hoosiers this game is eliminating someone from competition.
SEC Tournament
3pm-Mississippi State vs. Auburn (SECN)– Auburn is on Lundari’s “First Four Out” grouping. A Tiger loss ends their season and eliminates a team that could jump IU.
7pm- Ole Miss vs. Texas (SECN)– The Long Horns have one of the “Last Four Byes” and a loss to a dreadful Ole Miss team will knock them down a category and give IU a change to move up with a win.