Bracket Forecast: Indiana, Saint Peter's join NCAA Tournament field
The Indiana Hoosiers entered the Big Ten Tournament needing at least one victory to feel confident about their NCAA Tournament chances.
Mike Woodson's team got that victory on Thursday, and it was a big one.
Trayce Jackson-Davis scored a game-high 24 points to go along with eight rebounds and four blocks as No. 9 seed Indiana defeated eighth-seeded Michigan 74-69 in the second round of the Big Ten tournament.
The Hoosiers are one of two new teams in FOX Sports bracket forecaster Mike DeCourcy's latest NCAA Tournament projections. They are joined by Saint Peter's out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Peacocks are fresh off a 77-63 win over Fairfield in the quarterfinals of the MAAC Tournament on Wednesday night.
While Indiana and Saint Peter's are projected to join the party, DeCourcy has both Iona and Xavier now on the outside looking in. Iona fell to Rider in the MAAC Tournament on Wednesday night, while eighth-seeded Xavier lost to ninth-seeded Butler in the opening round of the Big East Tournament. The Musketeers were 16-5 just over a month ago, but have now lost eight of their last 10 games.
As of Thursday morning, DeCourcy lists Wake Forest, Southern Methodist, Wyoming and Indiana as his "Last Four In," while Xavier, Virginia Commonwealth, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech make up his "First Four Out" group.
Auburn (27-4), Baylor (26-5), Arizona (28-3) and Gonzaga (26-3) remain atop their respective regions as No. 1 seeds in DeCourcy's projections, while Kansas (25-6), Duke (26-5), Kentucky (25-6) and Wisconsin (24-6) all command the two-seed for the second day in a row.
The Big Ten has the most representatives in DeCourcy's compilation, leading the way with nine teams, while the Big East, Big 12 and SEC all have six teams in the field. The ACC has five teams, while the Mountain West has four, and Pac-12, WCC and AAC boast three apiece.
Here's DeCourcy's full breakdown:
