It’s hard to believe, but we are now less than eight weeks from having a bracket.
And that means it is time to start taking a weekly look at where Indiana stands in the projected field.
Selection Sunday for 2025 March Madness is set for Sunday, March 16. That’s when the 68-team field for the men’s NCAA DI basketball tournament will be announced.
IU is one of the more enigmatic teams in college basketball. They followed a five-game winning streak with a pair of 25-point losses, only to go on the road and pick up their second Quad-1 win of the season.
While their 14-5 overall record and 5-3 mark in the Big Ten looks tournament worthy, the Hoosiers have work to do.
As of this moment, Monday, Jan. 20, Indiana is at best a bubble team, and most likely on the outside looking in if the season ended today.
But there are plenty of opportunities to work their way into the field.
At Bracket Matrix, 10 projections had been updated through IU’s win over Ohio State, and five of those 10 had the Hoosiers in the field as an 11 seed, with the other five leaving Indiana out.
Indiana is currently No. 61 in the NET rankings. History says that’s uncomfortable place to be if you want to make the tournament.
But at the moment, it’s more about the road ahead over the final 12 games of the regular season plus the Big Ten Tournament. The Hoosiers have eight Quad 1 games remaining, and four Quad 2. It’s safe to say IU clearly controls its own destiny.
As a reminder, here’s how the NCAA NET rankings divide games into quadrants:
- Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75
- Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135
- Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240
- Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353
The Hoosiers are currently 2-5 in Quad 1, 1-0 in Quad 2, 7-0 in Quad 3, and 4-0 in Quad 4.
Here are Indiana’s remaining 12 regular season games:
- at Northwestern – Quad-1
- vs. Maryland – Quad-1
- at Purdue – Quad-1
- at Wisconsin – Quad-1
- vs. Michigan – Quad-1
- at Michigan State – Quad-1
- vs. UCLA – Quad-2
- vs. Purdue – Quad-1
- vs. Penn State – Quad-2
- at Washington – Quad-2
- at Oregon – Quad-1
- vs. Ohio State – Quad-2
A 7-5 record in those games is likely enough to secure a spot in the field.
You’ll likely hear some talk over the next eight weeks about Quad 1A, and those are the games that would really move the needle for Indiana.
In NCAA NET rankings, Quad 1A is a subset of Quad 1 games that are considered to be the highest caliber. Quad 1A games are home games against the top 15 teams, neutral games against the top 25 teams, and away games against the top 40 teams. IU is 1-2 in Quad 1A games thus far.
Indiana’s two games against Purdue, along with the games against Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Oregon all fall in that 1A category at the moment.
You can always find links to the latest NET rankings and other national ranking sites and services here:
Rankings Page: Links to the Top NCAA Men’s Basketball Ranking Services Including the NET
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