ESPN analyst, former Indiana Hoosiers and Georgia Bulldogs Tom Crean, called Indiana’s NCAA Tournament exclusion a “head scratcher,” on Sunday evening as the Hoosiers missed out on a tournament bid.
Crean defended Indiana as an NCAA tournament team, pointing out criteria for bubble teams. Crean also doesn’t only look so much at the resume, but rather at the eye test and whether they can win two games. To Crean, the Hoosiers were are fully capable of doing so but again were left out of the Big Dance for March Madness.
Indiana finished the season with a 19-13 record (10-10 Big Ten), and most recently lost 72-59 to Oregon in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Hoosiers ranked No. 54 in the NET, which put them behind bubble teams in No. 36 University of North Carolina, No. 39 University of Texas and No. 45 Xavier University, among others who all made the tournament.
That wasn’t enough to get them in the tournament this season and they will not accept a post-season bid to play in the Crown, CBI or the N.I.T.