Two thousand one hundred and seventy-seven days. Three hundred and eleven weeks. Seventy-one months. Two presidents, two coaches, handfuls of recruits and many opportunities which slipped just out of the Hoosiers’ hands.
All of that, and it took Indiana men’s basketball just 40 minutes to all but stamp its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016 with a 65-63 win over No. 1-seed Illinois in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
Its head coach, Mike Woodson, admits he’s not too knowledgeable about how the selection process works. When he was asked how it feels to get there, he replied with a question of his own:
“Are you sure we’re in?