What’s at stake for Indiana men’s basketball this Saturday against Wisconsin

Indiana men’s basketball did itself a pair of huge favors last week, with a home win over Purdue followed by a road win at UCLA, the first Quad 1 wins of the season for the Hoosiers. There was a chance for a third Tuesday night at USC, but the loss means that Indiana is stuck with just those two wins in the first quadrant for now.

With a shocking win over Michigan State, Minnesota’s NET ranking improved so that Indiana’s loss there is now a Quad 1 loss, leaving the Hoosiers 1-0 in Quad 2 games, but 2-8 in Quad 1 likely won’t cut it come March.

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The Hoosiers have eight games left to improve their tournament resume, mainly lacking wins against quality opponents. There are four Quad 1 wins left on the schedule as of now, with two of those being major uphill battles on the road at Illinois and Purdue.

Which brings us to Saturday against Wisconsin, the first of Indiana’s two remaining home games against Quad 1 teams.

Following the loss to USC, Bart Torvik gives Indiana an 89.1% chance to make the NCAA Tournament, likely landing either an eight or nine seed. This assumes the Hoosiers finish out the way Torvik predicts them to, which means winning out at home to finish 11-9 in conference play.

On the other hand, KenPom has Indiana finishing 10-10 in conference play, losing a home game to Michigan State, the other Quad 1 home game left on the schedule. The two models disagree as to the result of that MSU game, but both agree that Wisconsin is the easier of the two remaining Quad 1 games.

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If Indiana drops the game against Wisconsin, the Hoosiers likely need to win one of their road games at Purdue or Illinois AND the home game against MSU to feel good on Selection Sunday. That’s also likely the only route back to .500 in conference play, assuming Indiana doesn’t drop one of the easier games left on the slate.

Finishing 10-10 in conference play wouldn’t necessarily doom Indiana to the NIT or the Crown, but it would heighten the pressure of the Big…

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Publish date : 2026-02-05 22:24:00

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