It's Almost Time for March Madness!

            Two weeks from this upcoming Sunday, 68 teams will be selected to participate in one of the most exciting tournaments in the world. During the days leading up to Selection Sunday, every conference has a tournament of their own. The winner of each of those tournaments is guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament. Those conference tourneys are going to be key for some Indiana teams to be a part of March Madness.

            Not a lot has changed since I last wrote about college basketball. Notre Dame, Indiana, Valparaiso and Purdue still have the best chances of making the tournament. Don’t look now, but Butler may be on the verge of making another of their historic winning streaks. If the Bulldogs can win the Horizon Tournament, they should get a decent seed for the NCAA tourney.

#18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (19-8, 11-3)

Best wins: #22 Pittsburgh, #15 Marquette, at #10 Louisville, #1 Syracuse

Worst losses: Georgia, Rutgers, Maryland

The Irish finally move ahead of the Hoosiers and become the best (by ranking) team in Indiana. They sit third in the Big East standings and should finish at least fourth. That would grant them a double-bye in the Big East tournament. The latest projections have the Irish getting a #6 seed in the NCAA tournament. That is seriously low in my opinion; the Irish should get at least a #5 or #4.

Remaining games: vs. West Virginia, at St. Johns, at #8 Georgetown, vs. Providence

#24 Indiana Hoosiers (20-7, 8-7)

Best wins: #1 Kentucky, #2 Ohio State, #13 Michigan, #18 Notre Dame

Worst losses: at Nebraska, at Iowa

The Hoosiers are a good team but they cannot win on the road! It’s incomprehensible how much this team struggles when not playing at home. In the latest projections by ESPN, Indiana is a #5 seed in the same 16-team bracket as Notre Dame. How cool would it be to see an Elite 8 matchup of the two teams? Indiana has to be careful to look too far down the road though. They are at a nice looking 20-7, but they have three tough games left before the Big Ten tourney.

Remaining games: vs. North Carolina Central, at Minnesota, vs. #6 Michigan State, vs. Purdue

Valparaiso Crusaders (20-10, 13-4)

Best wins: Cleveland State (twice), Butler, Milwaukee

Worst losses: IPFW, IUPUI, Green Bay

Valpo sits atop the Horizon League standings, one of the best mid-major basketball conferences in the country. If they win their conference tournament they will most likely end up with a #14 or #15 seed. That may be high, but hey, at least they’re in!

Remaining games: vs. Butler

Butler Bulldogs (18-12, 11-6)

Best wins: Purdue, Stanford, Youngstown State (twice)

Worst losses: Evansville, Green Bay, Detroit

Remember back in December when the Bulldogs beat Purdue? They were 5-6 at the time and considered to be in a “rebuilding year”. Besides the Butler faithful, I think I was the only person who still had faith in them. Butler begins every year slowly, so their dismal start to the 2011 season was not shocking. Since that victory at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, they have gone 12-6 and placed themselves in a pretty good position to make the NCAA Tournament. What could make this storyline even better is if they and Valparaiso meet in the Horizon League Tournament in the final round. Winner gets a ticket to March Madness.

Remaining games: at Valparaiso

UPDATE 2/22/2012- These two teams are now 1-2 in the Horizon League standings. Valpo clinched the regular season championship last night by winning. The matchup between Butler and Valparaiso is this Friday night at 7:00 p.m. It should be a great game. Both teams could use a final great win before the conference tournament starts.

Purdue Boilermakers (17-10, 7-7)

Best wins: Temple, Miami, Illinois, Minnesota

Worst losses: Butler, Penn State

For some reason, many people believe this team should still be in the tournament. As of right now, what makes their resume better than Butler’s? Is it because they play in the Big Ten Conference? Whoopty-doo. Here’s the only stat that matters to me. Purdue has not beaten ONE ranked opponent all season. Not one! They have two games left against ranked opponents. If they win just one of those I will consider them a tournament-quality team. That doesn’t mean I believe they should be in the tournament though.

Remaining games: vs. Nebraska, at #6 Michigan State, vs. Penn State, at #24 Indiana

Remaining teams:

Indiana State Sycamores (16-12, 7-9)

Evansville Purple Aces (14-13, 8-8)

Ball State Cardinals (13-12, 4-8)

IUPUI Jaguars (13-16, 6-10)

IPFW Mastodons (10-17, 4-12)

            Look for a story to be posted right before the conference tournaments begin, around March 5^th or 6th. Then be sure to check back for updates as the week progresses.