[6BS] Coaching Search And NCAA Tourney Outlook After Oregon Loss
Women Will Almost Certainly Hear Their Name Called For March Madness Tonight
Welcome to another edition of 6-Banner Sunday, a joint production between The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall, and presented by our friends at Homefield Apparel, where we highlight the five most essential IU basketball stories of the past week, plus take a look at how the other IU sports programs are doing.
It will not be clear until very late in the afternoon if IU will make the NCAA Tournament or have their season end. Either way though, the biggest story continues to be IU’s coaching situation and who will replace Mike Woodson in the very near future. The uncertainty of whether Woodson will be the head man for another game stems from the Hoosiers’ early flameout in the Big Ten Tournament and being right on the cutline for March Madness.
Besides this, the women are in much better shape and will almost certainly hear their name called later today for their 6th straight time for the NCAA Tournament. We will as usual conclude with weekly shows and a look at other IU sports led by baseball having its best week of the season to date.
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Here is what is in this week’s edition:
IU Coaching Search Update
Hoosiers Fade Late Against Oregon
Are Hoosiers In Or Out Of The NCAA Tournament
Women Wait To Hear Name Called For Sixth Straight NCAA Tournament Berth
Weekly Shows
Hoosier Roundup-Baseball Has Best Week Of Season To Date
IU men’s basketball will play six games this season on Peacock and the women will play five contests on Peacock, making the streaming service a must-have for IU basketball fans. Sign up for Peacock using Inside the Hall’s link to help support the site and also enjoy Big Ten hoops all season long! In total, over 70 men's and women's games featuring Big Ten teams will air on Peacock this season (The link is an Inside the Hall affiliate link, so a commission will be paid to ITH if you click and subscribe to Peacock. Alex and the ITH team appreciate your support!)
Banner #1: IU Coaching Search Update
As the Hoosiers will learn their March Madness fate tonight (more below) the coaching search to replace Mike Woodson continues. While whispers and rumors of who might be the next head man in Bloomington persist, no one will know until IU announces it fairly soon here.
However, the name most frequently brought up may be Drake’s Ben McCollum who is listed as a favorite by both oddsmakers and reports. Other potential mentions include Clemson’s Brad Brownell and Creighton’s Greg McDermott among others.
Inside the Hall’s Alex Bozich compiled a list of who might be the favorites along with detailed profiles of Northwestern’s Chris Collins and West Virginia’s Darren DeVries. Also, recent openings at Iowa and Villanova may affect where potential candidates like DeVries and McCollum go.
Where Indiana will turn for their fourth head man since 2017 remains to be seen. However, whether it is one of these names or someone else, fans await patiently for an announcement.
Banner #2: Hoosiers Fade Late Against Oregon
This season in many ways has played out somewhat similar to the 2018-2019 year for Indiana basketball. Like that iteration of IU, this season saw a victory over an elite Michigan State squad on the road amongst a long losing streak and a late rally to get right to the edge of the NCAA Bubble.
These similarities continued into the Big Ten Tournament where a single win would have almost certainly punched their ticket to March Madness. Instead, the Hoosiers had a rough time there, which included a 72-59 defeat to Oregon. This was despite having a virtual home game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and a couple of players being honored by the conference.
Afterward, Woodson spoke, Inside the Hall had a photo gallery, Ryan Corazza wrote a Film Session, Bozich put together Five Takeaways, and Will Foley penned both the Minute After as well as a column about the team’s reoccurring problems.
Banner #3: Are Hoosiers In Or Out Of The NCAA Tournament
Whether the Hoosiers make the field or miss it will be announced at 6 pm tonight on CBS during the selection show. So far no bid stealers have found their way into March Madness which helps IU’s prospects. They do however, need to hope for that number to stay at zero after the American Athletic and Atlantic 10 conference championships today. With Memphis and VCU likely to hear their name called either way, bubble squads everywhere need them to win today to keep both of their leagues to just themselves.
If all continues to go right, the prospects of the Hoosiers getting into the NCAA Tournament likely rest on how the committee views them against Boise State, North Carolina, Texas, and Xavier for the last couple of available spots. Bracketologists vary as to whether Indiana will get into Dayton as part of the First Four or be left out altogether. Either way though, it will be known shortly after 6 pm if IU will be playing in the postseason a couple of days from now or diving head first into the offseason to name their new coach.
Banner #4: Women Wait To Hear Name Called For Sixth Straight NCAA Tournament Berth
On the other side of Assembly Hall, things are much clearer with the women’s squad despite some inconsistencies during the season. While it was far from perfect, the squad has one of the best coaches in the game with Teri Moren roaming the sidelines and are all but a lock to hear their name called tonight at 8 pm on ESPN for the selection show.
The squad finished 19-12 overall and will be making their 6th straight appearance in March Madness after just five in program history before this run. However, instead of hosting as a top-four seed like they have the past few years, they will be traveling as a nine or 10 seed to one of the better squads in the country. Likely destinations could be as close as South Bend in Notre Dame’s pod or much farther away to Austin (Texas), Columbia (South Carolina), Dallas (TCU), Raleigh (NC State), or Storrs (Connecticut).
Presenting Sponsor: Homefield Apparel
Homefield’s annual Black Friday sale has already begun. Use the promo code BLACKFRIDAY at checkout to get 20% off your entire order.
The item of the week for this week is the new “Hurryin’ Hoosiers” snapback hat. Both
Jerod Morris
and
have it, and can attest to its quality and fit.Plus, how cool is it to have an item celebrating the great teams under Branch McCracken?
Banner #5: Weekly Shows
Podcast on the Brink was recorded this week. This episode featured Inside the Hall’s Corazza recapping the season.
The Back Home Network was on-air multiple times in the last few days. Assembly Call Postgame, Crimson Cast, Doing The Work, and Dribble Drive all had shows.
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Banner #6: Hoosier Roundup-Baseball Has Best Week Of Season To Date
Baseball had their best week of the season to date after a loss to Penn State last Sunday. Since then, they have picked up a road victory at Indiana State and a couple of home wins over Ohio State. Also, newcomer Cooper Malamazian won Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
Softball continued to roll with victories over UIC, Butler, and Southern Indiana before falling to Iowa.
Wrestling left the Big Ten Championships with five postseason qualifiers.
Six Hoosiers have qualified for the NCAA Championships in swimming and diving after a single day at Zones as well as several others thereafter.
Water polo fell to UCLA before beating Princeton and Cal State Fullerton.
Men’s Tennis fell to USC and Northwestern.
Women’s Tennis fell to Maryland.
Women’s golf finished fourth at the Clover Cup.
Rowing opened their season by competing at the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational on a slightly altered schedule.
Women’s soccer added another assistant coach.
Thanks for your continued support for The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall. We’ll be back next weekend with a new roundup.
Now go enjoy yourself a 6-banner Sunday.
Aaron (Ari) Shifron
Assembly Call Contributor
The Assembly Call is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.