It is going to come down to the wire. With Indiana having been knocked out of the Big Ten Tournament by Oregon days ago, there is nothing else they can do to help or hurt their case when it comes to being a part of March Madness. The Hoosiers have been a regular tournament entrant throughout most of their illustrious history, but things have gone sideways in the years after Bob Knight left the team.
When looking at Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology update for ESPN, he has Indiana as one of the last four teams in along with Vanderbilt, San Diego State and Xavier. In his Bracket Math section, Lunardi mentioned that we are down to two at-large bids to be decided between three teams. He has Indiana and Xavier above the cut line, but Boise State just outside of it.
On the year, Indiana is 19-13 overall with a 10-10 record in Big Ten play. Lunardi has Indiana as the ninth of nine Big Ten teams to make the field of 68. The only league he projects to get more teams into the tournament would be the SEC with a staggering 13! Indiana and Xavier may have more cachet with the Selection Committee than mid-major football school Boise State, but who cares?!
For better or worse, I think that big brand bias will prevail and will get Indiana in over Boise State here.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) March 16, 2025
Keep in mind that Hoosiers head coach Mike Woodson will be stepping down after this season ends.
Where do things stand when it comes to Indiana making the tournament?
For many Indiana fans, it kind of feels like they want their season to end already. While it may be nice to see Woodson coach in a tournament game or two leading his alma mater one last time, we all know that the longer Indiana stays in the tournament the longer they delay the inevitable. All signs point to them hiring either Brad Brownell out of Clemson or Ben McCollum out of Drake. Neither feels option feels all that great right now.
Where I think Indiana benefits more than other schools on the bubble is that the Hoosiers play in a strong conference, but have not suffered a ton of bad defeats. This is why Lunardi feels strongly that a comparable team like the Texas Longhorns over in the SEC have virtually no shot of making the tournament. He cannot get past their 15 losses, even though the Longhorns also have 19 wins.
Overall, we are looking at Indiana probably taking part in the first four over in Dayton. Lunardi has them matched up with Xavier in a clash of No. 12 seeds as of last night. That may draw numbers from traditional powers and basketball junkies, but they would have to get past a much stronger BYU team as the East Region's projected No. 5 seed. That region runs through Duke, who will be a No. 1 seed.
Indiana is on the chopping block, but it seems more likely than not that the Hoosiers will be getting in.