Who should Hoosier fans be rooting for (besides Indiana)
By Carl James @jovian34 May 18th, 2023
Why do other games matter?
Both the B1G title race and the race for entry into the NCAA Tournament depend on what happen in other series. I lay out series that I think will have a clear interest one way over the other.
In all lists below root root root for the team on the left.
B1G Title race
- Penn State > Maryland
- Maryland wins Series 2-1
- Saturday: Maryland wins 7-4 and is outright B1G Champions
- Northwestern > Iowa
- Iowa wins series 2-1
- Iowa does not pass Indiana for 2nd place in the B1G
- Minnesota > Rutgers
- Minnesota leads series 2-0
- Rutgers can no longer pass Indiana in the standings
- Purdue > Nebraska
- Series tied 1-1
- Nebraska can tie Indiana in the standings with a win + Indiana loss, but Indiana holds the tiebreaker over Nebraska due to record against like opponents
- Ohio State > Michigan
- Ohio State leads series 2-0
- Michigan can no longer pass Indiana
Other RPI Impact series
These series can help/hurt Indiana’s RPI strength of schedule (SOS)
- Bellarmine > Liberty
- Liberty wins series 2-1
- Ohio > Akron
- Akron wins series 2-1
- Illinois > Tennessee-Martin
- Illinois wins Series 2-1
- Auburn > Mizzou
- Auburn sweeps series 3-0
- Morehead State > Little Rock
- Morehead State sweeps series 2-0
- Texas > West Virginia
- Texas sweeps series 3-0
Bubble impact series
If you read my RPI impact report, you will see that I’m not too worried about IU ending up on the bubble, but in a worst case scenario, here are some series that could make the bubble teams on the right be in worse shape.
- UC Davis > UC Irvine
- Irvine leads series 2-0
- Arizona > USC
- Arizona leads 2-0
- Utah > Oregon
- Series 1-1
- Kansas > Texas Tech
- Texas Tech Wins Series 2-1
- Boston College > Notre Dame
- BC wins series 2-1
- Oklahoma State > Oklahoma
- OK State wins series 2-11-0
- LSU > Georgia
- LSU leads series 1-0
- Virginia > Georgia Tech
- Virginia leads series 1-0
- Pitt > NC State
- NC State sweeps series 3-0
- Wake Forest > Virginia Tech
- Wake wins series 2-1
- Southern Miss > Louisiana
- So Miss leads series 1-0
- UL Monroe >Texas State
- Series tied 1-1
- William & Mary > UNC Wilmington
- UNCW leads series 1-0
- Saturday double header
- Hofstra > Elon
- Elon leads series 2-0
- Northeastern > College of Charleston
- NE leads series 1-0
Hope for a close regional assignment
If Hoosier fans are hoping for drive-able trip for the NCAA regionals, there are only two realistic hosts that Hoosier fans should root for – Kentucky and Indiana State
- Indiana State > Missouri State
- ISU sweeps series 3-0, improves to number 10 in RPI
- Kentucky > Florida
- Florida wins series 2-1
- Kentucky now has guaranteed a winning record in the SEC and should host with the no. 2 RPI