What brackets say about Indiana State basketball's NCAA tournament hopes
Is an NCAA Tournament bid being stolen from Indiana State, or are the Sycamores stealing one?
That's the biggest question Friday morning in the wake of some conference tournament upsets on Thursday. Atlantic 10 regular-season champ Dayton lost to Duquesne, and Creighton lost to Providence in the Big East.
Given ISU's precarious position in the eyes of most bracketologists, those results tip the scales against the Sycamores.
The Sycamores (27-6) are 28th in the NCAA NET rankings, a guide to a team's relative strength. However, NET does not predict whether the committee will select a team for the tournament.
$1 MILLION BRACKET: Be ready to make your picks
Indiana State's Carl Nicks: 'It's gonna break my heart if they don't get in'
Joe Lunardi, ESPN: First four out
John Gasaway, ESPN
The news that Dayton was eliminated in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals was worrisome for all bubble teams, including Indiana State. The Flyers are a lock at Bubble Watch, but now there will be two A-10 teams in the field of 68 instead of just one. In effect, that takes an at-large bid off the board. The Sycamores are believed to be right on the cut line, so even one bid more or less could make the difference. Note however that since losing the Missouri Valley final to Drake, ISU's rankings in the NCAA's team sheet metrics have stayed right where they were. Active teams have not "passed by" Josh Schertz's group ‒ but this could still go either way Sunday.
Jerry Palm, CBS Sports: First four out
The Missouri Valley could also have a bid-stealer if Indiana State is selected as an at-large team. My bracket has another one with South Florida, the top seed in the AAC Tournament. The Bulls are an unlikely at-large team despite winning the league by two games.
Kerry Miller, Bleacher Report: First four out, but ...
Indiana State, which entered play on Thursday as our Last Team In, but slipped to the wrong side of that cut line after St. John's beat Seton Hall..
All the Missouri Valley tournament runners-up can do now is sit back and hope for the best. But one potentially big thing working in the Sycamores' favor is that they're the only mid-major right on the cut line. (With all due respect to Appalachian State, which had three quality wins, but six bad losses and poor metrics across the board.)
The Sycamores are sitting there on the bubble with a 27-6 record, while every team in our First Five Out as of Thursday morning was bringing double-digit losses to the table.
USA TODAY: First four out
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana State basketball watches NCAA tournament hopes
