Last Year\u2019s Results<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen coach Crean took over in 2008, the team was in a state of turmoil with the NCAA breathing down its neck. Then-head coach Kelvin Sampson was the center of multiple controversies on campus, and the team was essentially starting from scratch with a new coach and a new roster. Last season, however, was the team\u2019s best season under coach Crean, as they once again returned to the national spotlight\u2014this time for the right reasons.<\/p>\n
The Hoosiers returned to the NCAA tournament last year with a 27-9 overall record, but they were sent home by the No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats in the Sweet 16.<\/p>\n
Monumental regular season wins against Kentucky, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 Michigan helped pave the way to their success, and it was one of the more majestic years in all of college basketball.<\/p>\n
Roster Changes<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Hoosiers are fortunate enough to return their top five point-per-game guys, as well as five of the six players who started ten games or more last season, which isn\u2019t something most prominent programs can say in today\u2019s day and age of one-and-done freshmen<\/p>\n
To go along with the group of veterans, Indiana is bringing in the 11th-ranked recruiting class for 2012 (according to ESPN). The team has five commits, including top 100-ranked Kevin \u201cYogi Ferrell\u201d, Jeremy Hollowell, Hanner Mosquera-Perea and Peter Jurkin.<\/p>\n
Key Players<\/strong><\/p>\nReturning center Cody Zeller was chosen as the Big Ten preseason player of the year, and there\u2019s no reason to believe that anybody in the conference will steal that honor by the end of 2013.<\/p>\n
Zeller is a 7\u20190\u201d, 240-pound sophomore, who many expected to bolt following his rookie year. His 15.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks were good enough to earn him lottery mentions in the 2012 NBA draft, but he\u2019ll be back this season looking to boost his numbers to elite recognition.[ad-6571516]<\/p>\n
The team\u2019s next-highest scorers, Christian Watford and Jordan Hulls, will be counted upon to take the pressure off of Zeller, who will surely see more double-teams this season. Kevin Ferrell, the freshman point guard, will also compete for starter\u2019s minutes by making plays and pushing the tempo from day one.<\/p>\n
Senior forward Derek Elston will miss the beginning part of the year with a torn meniscus, but the depth and talent on the roster should prevent the team from having any major setbacks.<\/p>\n
Key Games<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Hoosiers are the No. 1 team in the country heading into the season, but they also play in what is arguably one of the best conferences in all of college basketball. The Big Ten has top-quality teams littered all over the rankings, and that will never be more apparent than the final three weeks of the season.<\/p>\n
Heading into the Big Ten Tournament, Indiana faces 14th-ranked Michigan State late in February and then closes out the season with No. 4 Ohio State and No. 5 Michigan in their final two contests.<\/p>\n
Their first major challenge of the year, however, comes against the eleventh-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. At home on national television, the Hoosiers play host to Roy Williams\u2019 squad from Chapel Hill in just their sixth game of the season.<\/p>\n
2013 Prediction<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen the season begins, the Indiana Hoosiers will be the favorites in every game they play. That\u2019s the prize\u2014as well as the burden\u2014that comes with being ranked first overall. Simply put, the Hoosiers are the No. 1 team in the country for a reason, and they\u2019re going to look like it until the season comes to a close.<\/p>\n
With one of the best big men in the entire NCAA, Indiana should take care of business and win a tough Big Ten conference. This team tasted success last season, but they\u2019re ready for a spot on top of the college basketball world. An NCAA championship is within their grasps, and this group of veterans is primed and ready to chase it from day one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2012 NCAA Basketball Previews \u2014 Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers basketball team has taken another giant leap toward greatness this year, as they\u2019ve been named the No. 1 team in the country in the preseason AP and USA Today Polls. The team hasn\u2019t been ranked first overall since 1979, but fifth-year head coach Tom Crean […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":23841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1415],"tags":[39626,56882,188,6250,4207,4633,5171,56976,55757,2160,2162,56975,4785,21162],"class_list":["post-56768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-basketball","tag-39626","tag-2012-college-basketball-gambling","tag-big-10","tag-cbb-odds","tag-college-basketball-betting","tag-college-basketball-picks","tag-hoosiers","tag-hoosiers-odds","tag-hoosiers-predictions","tag-indiana","tag-indiana-hoosiers","tag-indiana-hoosiers-season-preview","tag-ncaa-basketball-futures","tag-ncaa-basketball-predictions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56768"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57111,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56768\/revisions\/57111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}