IU Coach Tom Crean was happy with at least one thing Selection Sunday.
As the seeds continued to be announced, and as it became clearer and clearer the committee was not valuing the Big Ten or IU’s conference title as highly as others, Crean was happy he had a reminder for his team in the locker room.
So when IU was announced as the No. 5 seed in the East Regional, Crean was happy the Hoosiers were all sitting around the Big Ten Championship trophy.
“I'm glad it was down there because we needed a quick visual reminder that we were a Big Ten champion,” Crean said. “So I'll leave our seed for other people to talk about.”
Big Ten Championship or not, the Hoosiers are a No. 5 seed in what might be the most difficult regional. The No. 1 seed is ACC regular season and conference tournament champion North Carolina.
The No. 2 seed, Xavier, was considered a No. 1 seed for much of the regular season before losing in the Big East Tournament and competing with Villanova for much of the season for the regular season title.
The list goes on. There’s No. 3 seed West Virginia who has wins against Kansas and Oklahoma, and of course there’s No. 4 Kentucky, who won the SEC regular season and tournament championship.
This doesn't concern the Hoosiers, especially senior forward Max Bielfeldt.
“I mean we know we're going to get put where we get put,” Bielfeldt said. “You're going to have to play all the same teams to go where you want to go anyway. So whether you're 3, 4, 5, 10, 16 seed, doesn't matter to us, we're just going to try to beat whoever's in front of us.”
Bielfeldt has experience in the NCAA Tournament other Hoosiers don’t. When he was redshirting his first year at Michigan, he watched his teammates play their way to the national title game.
The next year, he helped his team advance to the Elite 8.
“So many games at this point come down to the last possession and the last whatever three or four,” Bielfeldt said. “You've just got to make sure that you make every one count.”
And with so many games coming down the the last couple possessions in the NCAA Tournament, a team’s seed doesn’t matter all that much. All that matters is how a team plays once it makes the NCAA Tournament.
The last time the Hoosiers won the Big Ten in 2013 they were a No. 1 seed. They also lost in the Sweet 16 that year.
The last time they were a No. 5 seed in 2002, the Hoosiers advanced to the national title game. The last time IU won a national championship in 1987, it was a No. 5 seed.
So Crean isn’t concerned with what IU’s seed is. He isn’t concerned about who the Hoosiers might have to play at later points in the tournament, even a potential game against Kentucky and its coach, John Calipari, in the second round.
He’s simply concerned with winning.
“I don't have much more to add other than that,” Crean said. “I saw John Calipari's interview with ESPN, he said you've got to go play the games. He's exactly right, so here we go.”
