2021-22 season outlook
Indiana basketball certainly has a favorable schedule on its hands when it comes to non-conference action. They have an opportunity to build some rapport together through their first six contests that all come at home. They’ve only got St. John’s, Syracuse, and Notre Dame to truly circle on the schedule when it’s come to having a big challenge on the board, as this year looks to be a confidence-building year.
Head coach Mike Woodson hasn’t gone all-in just yet given the eligibility parameters surrounding the season. Basically, last year doesn’t count against players so with this year being a do-over, it helps Woodson has some old and new pieces to work with.
Indiana basketball has some experienced frontcourt pieces in Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson returning and they’ve shown they can co-exist with the newcomers already as shown in their exhibition trip back in August.
While their depth will be tested when Big Ten basketball action arrives in January, they should be a much-improved unit from a season ago after going 7-12 in conference action in 2020-21. They could find themselves in the middle of the pack and squarely on the bubble in the eyes of the NCAA Tournament committee when March arrives.