No. 13 Arizona | No. 15 Michigan State | Full List
No. 14: INDIANA HOOSIERS
Last Season: 20-14, 9-9 Big Ten
This offseason for the Hoosiers has played out like a bad soap opera -- starting with the player dismissals. Hanner Mosquera-Perea, Emmitt Holt and Devin Davis could not stay out of mischief off the court and, fair or not, this has led more questioning of coach Tom Crean's control of the program.
Crean himself still can't escape the speculation over his future in Bloomington, which seems certain to intensify if the Hoosiers don't live up to expectations.
Indiana returns four starters, led by senior point guard Yogi Ferrell. He's a major reason why the Hoosiers possessed one of the most electric offenses in college basketball. They should only get better with the addition of 6-foot-10 freshman Thomas Bryant, who will bring a post presence Indiana lacked last season. Scoring won't be a problem. Stopping teams might be. The key to the season could be if the Hoosiers can improve defensively, where they ranked 214th nationally and last in the Big Ten in adjusted defense, according to Ken Pomeroy. -- C.L. Brown
Best Case: No team in America is more fun to watch than Indiana on the offensive end. The Hoosiers ranked 12th in the nation in offensive rating last season, led by one of the best backcourts in the country in Yogi Ferrell and James Blackmon. If Troy Williams takes off, and his athletic ability suggests he can take off, and Nick Zeisloft continues to shoot it so well, Indiana can score against any defense. IU shot 40.6 percent on 3-pointers last season, sixth in the country. Thomas Bryant will allow Indiana the ability to take more chances defensively and block or change shots that last year went in. If Indiana defends at a higher level, there is no reason to believe the Hoosiers cannot compete into the second weekend of the NCAA tournament.
Worst Case: Indiana scores at will, and gets scored upon at will, and exits early from the NCAA tournament. Last season, Indiana gave up 45 percent shooting from the field and had no advantage from the free throw line, taking exactly the same amount of free throw attempts as its opponents.
"The Hoosiers should be really good this year. They just need to keep it simple. There's pressure on Crean, but they are one of the top two or three teams in the league. They will be able to score enough points, but the key will be on the defensive end. They got bigger with [Michigan transfer Max] Bielfeldt and Bryant. Those guys should be able to hold other teams from simply dominating the glass."
No. 13 Arizona | No. 15 Michigan State | Full List
