Indiana Men’s Basketball Bracketology: Hoosiers Slipping, But Not Out Of Sight Yet

Indiana is still hanging around the NCAA Tournament bubble, but Hoosiers need wins to stay afloat.

Indiana Hoosiers guard Anthony Leal (3) is fouled by Maryland Terrapins forward Julian Reese (10) during the second half at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Since Indiana earned a 77-76 overtime win at Ohio State on Jan. 17, it’s been a two-week downer.

The Hoosiers lost (after leading) at Northwestern on Jan. 22. They also lost (after leading in the final minute) against Maryland Sunday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

The relatively long gaps between games hasn’t lightened the mood around the Hoosiers. As far as bracketology is concerned, the more-frequently updated sites have had several opportunities to price in Indiana’s recent struggles.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had Indiana as the first team in the field before the Northwestern loss and then the second-last team out after the defeat against the Wildcats.

Indiana hadn’t moved from that spot in bracketology early in the week after the loss to Maryland, but in Friday’s updated bracketology, Lunardi moved Indiana out of the first four teams out and placed the Hoosiers among the next four out.

Indiana suffered general bracket erosion this week. According to bracketmatrix.com, Indiana only appears in three brackets – and some of those have not been updated recently.

Befitting that state of play, Indiana was not mentioned in Jerry Palm’s CBS Sports bracketology as one of his first four teams out in his updated bracket on Friday.

Being one of the first four teams out – or worse, one of the next four out – is worse than it would seem anyway.

To truly be safe in the NCAA Tournament field, a team needs to be above the last four in status. That’s because conference tournaments almost always have surprise winners who take at-large bids away from bubble teams.

So even if Indiana was right on the bubble as it was a week ago, it would still have a hill to climb.

As dire as it seems, Indiana still has chances to get right back in the NCAA Tournament picture.

Five of Indiana’s next six games are Quad 1 opportunities. Win even a couple of those and the Hoosiers are right back in the mix.

Those Quad 1 games are tonight’s 8 p.m. ET contest at Purdue, at Wisconsin (Tuesday), Michigan at home (Feb. 8), at Michigan State (Feb. 11) and Purdue at home (Feb. 23).

By the time Indiana plays UCLA on Feb. 14, the Bruins might also count as a Quad 1 opportunity. The Bruins are currently No. 28 in the NET. A home win over a team ranked 1-25 in the NET counts as a Quad 1 victory.

Indiana is ranked No. 67 in the NET and is 5-7 in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games. Two of its wins are Quad 1 victories.

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