With just four regular season games remaining, the Indiana Hoosiers face a task they never thought possible at the beginning of the season, the need to win their final four contests just to even be considered for an invitation to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Heading into their game against Iowa on Tuesday night, IU is currently not in the field and is just barely on the fringe of being considered, according to ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi. The Hoosiers are one of the four teams Lunardi considers “The Next Four Out”, a quartet of teams that at a minimum have four teams ahead of them in the selection process for the final few spots. A loss on the road against a mediocre Iowa team on Tuesday will put Indiana in the precarious position of having to win the Big 10 Tournament if they want a spot in the NCAA tournament, a prospect that seems more than just improbable since they would have to accomplish something within the Big 10 they haven’t done all season, win at least four or possibly five consecutive games. Winning at Iowa won’t guarantee by any means a spot in the NCAA tourney but a loss will permanently seal their fate.
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