Thompson had his head down looking at a plate of food at Yogi’s Bar and Grill, where IU was having a watch party, and only realized the Hoosiers had received a first round bye once he heard the cheers of his teammates.
“I was honestly not even looking yet,” Thompson said. “I looked down to get a bite of food, and I heard everyone yelling. It was early and the selection show goes fast, so it was surprising.”
Thompson wasn’t alone in not realizing IU had made the tournament initially, because the announcement came so early in the show. The show had started two minutes earlier, and the sound on the live stream was still not turned on.
IU also wasn’t predicted as a national seed, so some of the players and coaches were caught off guard.
Because of how the Hoosiers struggled in the middle of the season and how some of the teams on their schedule struggled, Thompson was expecting to be playing in the first round.
“I was expecting to play Thursday night so seeing that was definitely exciting,” Thompson said. “We have a home game Sunday, so we have a couple extra days and we’re going to be prepared for it.”
Thompson said he believed IU was deserving of a top-16 seed, but said he didn’t know if the committee would recognize how well the Hoosiers had played this season.
The No. 16 seed is the last seed given a first round bye, so the Hoosiers potentially face a third round match against the No. 1 seed in the entire tournament: Wake Forest.
“We’re playing as well as anyone out there, and that gives them a lot of confidence,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said. “I like the way that we’re looking heading into the tournament.”
IU has now received an NCAA Tournament berth in 29 straight seasons and has been one of the top 16 teams and a national seed in 11 of the 13 tournaments since the NCAA switched to this format in 2003.
Last year, IU was the No. 5 overall seed but still lost in its second round match 2-1 at home against Xavier.
“We’re definitely motivated to not let that happen this year,” Thompson said. “To go out that early is never easy, especially when you’re a top 16 seed. You’re not supposed to lose that game so we’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen this year.”
Thompson said the first thing he thought about once he saw where the Hoosiers were seeded was 2012. He turned to the person next to him and said the last time IU was the No. 16 seed, it won a national championship, the eighth in program history.
“I wasn’t a part of that team but everyone knows the history and everyone knows what happened then, so hopefully that’s a good sign for us,” Thompson said.
