Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings: Illinois, Maryland, and Michigan State fight at top
By Ryan Kay
8. Indiana 15-7 (5-6)
Key Wins
*Defeated Florida State 80-64 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
*Beat UConn on a neutral court, 57-54.
*Defeated Notre Dame 62-60 on a neutral court.
* Beating Michigan State at home by a score of 67-63.
Disappointing Losses
*Lost at Wisconsin, 84-64.
*Lost at Penn State, 64-49.
*Lost at home by 1 point to Maryland by a score of 77-76.
KenPom Ranking 41
Net Ranking 51
Like Minnesota and Purdue, Indiana lost two important and integral pieces from last year’s team in Romeo Langford and Juwan Morgan. The Hoosiers, however, did bring back key returners in Devonte Green, Al Durham Jr., and Justin Smith and Indiana has played hard and has been competitive in Big Ten play. True freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis who is Indiana’s leading scorer this season has been the catalyst for the Hoosiers offense this season.
The Hoosiers like Rutgers, if they were in another conference, they could easily be a top-three team in that conference. The Big Ten has been so competitive night in and night out this year that teams like the Hoosiers may struggle to compete for a top-5 seed in the Big Ten tournament come this March. However, the future is bright and Jackson-Davis may have solidified himself to be the front-runner for freshmen of the year in the Big Ten and he could easily make the Hoosiers a team to be feared this February, as well as a dangerous team, come Big Ten tournament time.
Indiana fans may not be thrilled by the job performance of head coach Archie Miller this season who is in year three of his tenure as the head coach of the Indiana program but there are signs of hope. Hoosier fans may be seeing big things from him and the program him sooner than later especially if they can make the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament. The Hoosiers will be a team to keep an eye on in the second half of Big Ten play. Indiana will host Purdue on Feb. 8th and will have an opportunity to climb the Big Ten standings.