The State of College Basketball in Indiana
By Evan Reller
Mar 19, 2014; Detail view of the basketball through the net during practice before the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Disappointing. Abysmal. Tragic. Underwhelming.
All words that could describe men’s college basketball in Indiana. The state failed to put a team into the Men’s NCAA Tournament for just the second time in the past 42 years.
This is the state that is nearly synonymous with the sport. Indiana is built for basketball and lives for March.
If you don’t know about the history of basketball in Indiana, read Zak Keefer’s piece in the Indianapolis Star.
Notre Dame, Butler, Purdue, and IU all will spend the remainder of March at home as none of the teams received even a bid to the lesser NIT. Only Indiana State made it to the postseason, and they lost in the first round of the NIT badly.
Each team was bounced from its respective conference tournament in the first round. The Big Ten tournament was in Indianapolis, and after Thursday both Purdue and IU were heading home. Not surprisingly, attendance dropped following day one.
After four rough seasons from the major programs its hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel for each team. So many questions swirl around these programs, and one has to wonder home hot the coaching seats will be next year.