Indiana men’s basketball reportedly added another game to its non-conference schedule today as the school works to finalize a December 18 home game against the Missouri Tigers, per Jon Rothstein:
This is the first home non-conference game against a high major opponent on the slate for Indiana this year, with matchups in Indianapolis against Syracuse (November 9th) and Kentucky (November 20th). As Rothstein reported, this appears to be a standalone game, with no road game at Missouri planned for the future.
Missouri will be in its fifth season under Dennis Gates, who has brought the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament in three of his four prior seasons. Last year, Mizzou went 10-8 in the SEC and lost in the first round of the SEC Tournament, but snuck into the NCAA Tournament as a ten seed.
While it may look good on paper to be playing an NCAA Tournament team, last year’s squad was not one of the top teams in the bracket. Indiana had a higher KenPom ranking and NET score than Mizzou last year, despite missing the Tournament.
The portal gives every team a chance to improve drastically from season-to-season, but as things stand, I’m not a huge fan of this move. Beating Mizzou at home is unlikely to turn heads come selection Sunday, and the game against Syracuse also leaves something to be desired.
A loss, on the other hand, could very well come back to bite Indiana, as would a loss to the Orange on a neutral court, barring a drastic turnaround for either team.
I understand the desire to have recognizable programs on the non-conference schedule, but at the end of the day, there are a number of mid-major programs that finished last season ahead of Missouri nationally. It’s a bit of a gamble to have that kind of team on the schedule, where the downside of a loss heavily outweighs the upside of a win when it comes to building Tournament resume.
Add in the fact that, for the second season in a row, Indiana is trotting out a brand new roster, and the schedule feels like more of a gamble. The Hoosiers are returning just one player, Trent Sisley. That’s a pretty valid excuse for scheduling teams in the Kenpom 300ish range.
Of course, either of Mizzou or Syracuse could end up being a truly quality win by the end of next season. It’s at least as possible as Marquette’s collapse last season that robbed Indiana of a quality win on a neutral court.
Darian DeVries needs to make the NCAA Tournament in year two, though, so I’m not sure this is the season to be gambling with middle of the road high-major programs in the non-conference schedule.