LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The resume of the Indiana University men’s basketball team was a hot button debate topic all weekend.
Did the Hoosiers push themselves into the 2022 NCAA Tournament by getting to 20 victories while upsetting Michigan and Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament?
Or did IU’s late-season slide of losing 7 of their last 9 regular-season games make them more worthy of the NIT? Did the 3-point loss to Iowa on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Iowa hurt the Hoosiers?
Mission accomplished — barely.
The Hoosiers were one of the last two teams selected for the 68-team field on Sunday — earning a Tuesday night First Four matchup against Wyoming in Dayton, Ohio as a No. 12 seed. It's Indiana's first NCAA appearance since 2016.
If the Hoosiers win, they'll be shipped to Portland, Oregon, to play Saint Mary's on Thursday, a long and quick turnaround. They're part of a packed East Regional that also includes Kentucky, the two-seed, Purdue, the three-seed and UCLA, the four-seed. Of course, Baylor, the defending national champion, is the top seed in the East.
"At the end of the day, we're in," IU coach Mike Woodson said. "Got to play the play-in game. That's my only concern right now...
"... A lot of these kids have been sitting on the sidelines for years watching NCAA Tournament basketball be played in March and never really knowing what it's about ... I think it's a beautiful thing."
Wyoming (25-8) finished fourth in the Mountain West Conference. The Cowboys are coached by Jeff Lindner, who is in his second season. Wyoming lost five of its last nine games.
A year ago, UCLA made the field as an 11-seed and had to win a First Four game against Michigan State. The Bruins did that — and then won four more games to make the Final Four.
"That was something that was spoken before the Big Ten Tournament," IU guard Rob Phinisee said. "Our season's not over.
"No matter what happens, you can always make a run at the end of the season. So we know what happened last year at UCLA and right now we're just focused on Wyoming and looking forward to that first game."
In his first season as the program’s head coach, Woodson ended the Hoosiers’ NCAA drought by breaking IU’s losing streaks against Purdue and Michigan, while also defeating Illinois, Ohio State and Notre Dame.
Tom Crean guided the Hoosiers to the Sweet Sixteen in 2016. That run ended with a loss to North Carolina.
"We're super excited," Phinisee said. "Everybody knows we haven't been to the tournament since 2016 so it's huge for our state and our fan base."
On Sunday, IU was ranked No. 39 in the NCAA Net formula, No. 38 in Ken Pomeroy’s computer power formula and No. 29 in Jeff Sagarin’s predictor formula. Wyoming is ranked No. 50 in Net, 58th in Pomeroy and 84th in Sagarin predictor.
IU is led by center Trayce Jackson-Davis, who averaged 25.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in three Big Ten Tournament games.
IU went to the NIT in 2017, a season that ended with Crean’s dismissal. They also played in the NIT in 2019 in Archie Miller’s second season. IU might have made the 2020 NCAA Tournament, but it was canceled because of COVID.
IU missed both tournaments last season, resulting in the dismissal of Miller with a buyout of more than $10 million and the hiring of Woodson.
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