There will be no nerves on Sunday evening as the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed.
Indiana (22-11) is solidly in the field, and they won’t even have to suffer through any absurd Dayton to Portland crack of dawn adventures along the way.
But while the travel will be much simpler this time around, “where” seems to be the biggest question for Mike Woodson’s Hoosiers right now.
IU entered the Big Ten Tournament widely expected to be a No. 4 seed in the Big Dance, and their 1-1 performance this weekend seems to have done little to change that. It should be noted however, that a final day trend has emerged to bump the Hoosiers to the No. 5 line.
Of the 37 brackets updated on Sunday, 30 have the Hoosiers as a No. 4, six a No. 5 seed, and one has them at No. 6.
Bracketology aggregator Bracket Matrix is showing Indiana with an average seed of 4.07 across 105 prognostications, all of which were updated either on Saturday or Sunday. Some well known outlets moved IU to a No. 5 seed after their Saturday loss to Penn State.
If there is a wildcard in Indiana’s resume, it’s the NCAA NET rankings, which currently has the Hoosiers at No. 30 (updated after Saturday’s games). That would seem to suggest the Hoosiers should be something closer to a No. 7 or 8 seed based on the raw numbers. Last year’s No. 30 team in the NET was Alabama, a No. 6 seed.
If Indiana is anything other than a No. 4, then it might be the NET that bumps them to a No. 5.
Here is where some of the better known outlets predict Indiana will end up:
- Joe Lunardi, ESPN (No. 5 seed, Albany, N.Y., vs. Oral Roberts) — updated Sunday
- Jerry Palm, CBS (No. 5 seed, Albany, N.Y., vs. Drake) — updated Sunday
- Brian Bennett, The Athletic (No. 4 seed, Albany, N.Y., Kent State) — updated Sunday
- Mike DeCourcy, FOX (No. 5 seed, vs. N.C. State/Arizona State) — updated Sunday
- Bart Torvik, (No. 5 seed) — updated Sunday
Here are the first and second round host sites:
| March 16 & 18 | First/Second Rounds | Birmingham, AL | Legacy Arena |
| March 16 & 18 | First/Second Rounds | Des Moines, IA | Wells Fargo Arena |
| March 16 & 18 | First/Second Rounds | Orlando, FL | Amway Center |
| March 16 & 18 | First/Second Rounds | Sacramento, CA | Golden 1 Center |
| March 17 & 19 | First/Second Rounds | Albany, NY | MVP Arena |
| March 17 & 19 | First/Second Rounds | Columbus, OH | Nationwide Arena |
| March 17 & 19 | First/Second Rounds | Denver, CO | Ball Arena |
| March 17 & 19 | First/Second Rounds | Greensboro, NC | Greensboro Coliseum |
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