Indiana among “first four teams out” in latest ESPN Bracketology
Despite four losses in its last five games, Indiana is still on the bubble for the 2025 NCAA tournament, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
Lunardi’s latest projections, published on Tuesday, Jan. 28, show the Hoosiers as one of the first four teams in the projected 68-team field.
According to Lunardi, the first four teams out are Xavier, Indiana, Arizona State and SMU.
The projections have Oklahoma, Georgia, San Diego State and Pittsburgh as the last four teams receiving byes and Ohio State, Texas, North Carolina and UCF as the last four teams in the field.
As of Wednesday morning, the Hoosiers are No. 68 in the NCAA’s NET rankings. Indiana is 2-7 in Quad 1 games, 2-0 in Quad 2 games, 6-0 in Quad 3 games and 4-0 in Quad 4 games.
At 14-7 overall and 5-5 in Big Ten play, Indiana’s most challenging stretch of games is coming up. The Hoosiers go to Purdue on Friday night before traveling to Wisconsin next Tuesday. Three of IU’s next four games are on the road.
Each of IU’s next six games are against teams projected to make the 2025 NCAA tournament field comfortably.
Lunardi has nine Big Ten teams in the field: Purdue, Michigan State, Oregon, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maryland, UCLA and Ohio State.
Indiana began the season ranked 17th in the Associated Press top 25 poll. In a media poll conducted in the fall, the Hoosiers were picked to finish second in the Big Ten.
At the halfway point of the conference schedule, Indiana is ninth in the Big Ten standings. The Hoosiers started the season 11-0 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall but have dropped two straight games in Bloomington.
Indiana missed the NCAA tournament in 2024 after making the field in 2022 and 2023.
In 2022, Indiana beat Wyoming in a First Four game in Dayton before falling to Saint Mary’s in the round of 64 in Portland, Oregon. In 2023, the Hoosiers earned a No. 4 seed and beat Kent State in the opening round before falling to Miami (FL) in the round of 32 in Albany, New York.
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