Selection Sunday is here, and it’s time for one last check of the bracketology projections and potential bid thieves
Since losing to Oregon, IU has had a pretty good couple of days. For the most part there haven’t been significant upsets in the conference tournaments that would seem to harm their chances to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team.
But tonight is still going to be stressful for IU fans as the field is unveiled. Indiana is still a near consensus team in either the First Four In the field of First Four Out across more than 100 projections. They could end up being the last team in or out.
A Sunday morning look at Bracket Matrix shows the Hoosiers in 77 of 102 projected brackets. That’s trending unfavorably from yesterday’s 97 of 113.
Among some of the more prominent bracketologists included at Bracket Matrix, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has IU as the last team in, and CBS’ Jerry Palm has the Hoosiers in as well. The average projected seed for IU at Bracket Matrix is 11.19. At Torvik’s “TourneyCast,” Indiana’s chances to make the field sit at 33.2% this morning, up 11 percentage points from yesterday.
Some of the teams the Tournament Selection Committee is comparing to IU for the final at-large bids continue to be Xavier, North Carolina, Texas, San Diego State, and Boise State. If IU makes the field, they very well could be playing one of those teams in their first game.
If the Hoosiers make it in to the field of 68, they appear almost certain to be a First Four team like they were in 2022. Those games are Tuesday and Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio. Indiana had a strong showing of fans there in 2022 and advanced to the first round.
Selection Sunday coverage begins today (Sunday, March 16) at 6 p.m. ET on CBS.
SUNDAY ROOTING GUIDE:
Ahead of the Selection Show, there are still two games today with the potential to bump the Hoosiers out of the field if the underdog wins.
If either of these go the wrong way, IU could be out:
- IU fans should root for VCU to beat George Mason in the Atlantic 10 Championship game. That contest tips at 1 p.m. ET on CBS. VCU is an 8.5-point favorite.
- They should also root for Memphis to beat UAB in the AAC Championship game. That one tips at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN. Memphis is a 3.5-point favorite.
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