NCAA Basketball: North Carolina the worst preseason No. 1 team of all time
By Joey Loose
16. 2012-13 Indiana
In early 2008, Indiana basketball was torn asunder when Kelvin Sampson was fired as a result of a recruiting scandal in the Hoosiers program. Marquette head coach Tom Crean was brought to Bloomington to pick up the pieces, with his first few seasons performing very poorly with underwhelming rosters. Everything was coming together a few years later, and Crean’s fifth year looked like it could be something special. Heck, the Hoosiers would spent more than two months at the #1 spot; not just the preseason ranking.
As for the on-court talent, the Hoosiers had a number of major pieces, including future NBA players like Cody Zeller (16.5 points, 8.0 rebounds per game) and Victor Oladipo (13.6 points per game), who was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. The other double-digit scorer was senior forward Christian Watford, who hit that memorable shot to upset #1 Kentucky the year prior. Additionally, the Hoosiers had senior Jordan Hulls, junior Will Sheehey, and future NBA player Yogi Ferrell (then a freshman) contribute at least 7 points per game for the Big Ten’s best team.
The Hoosiers had an impressive regular season, winning five Big Ten games over Top 10 opposition, including a win against #1 Michigan in February. They stumbled in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, but still got a 1-seed for their great season. After taking care of business against 16-seed James Madison and surprising a tough effort from 9-seed Temple, the Hoosiers saw their season end disappointingly early, losing to 4-seed Syracuse 61-50 in the Sweet Sixteen. Oladipo had 16 points, but everyone else struggled and it was the wrong time for Indiana’s offense to come undone against that tough Syracuse pressure.