The Indiana Hoosiers are in great shape heading into Saturday games for the Big Ten Tournament. IU is likely safely in the NCAA tournament already but it would be nice for them to guarantee their spot by winning this weekend. They've put themselves in a good place to do exactly that. After last night's blowout of Ohio State (11-3), the Hoosiers are sitting without a loss with only three teams remaining.
Ohio State now has to face off with Nebraska to see who goes home and who gets a shot at beating IU in two straight games. Ohio State sent Nebraska to the losers bracket in the first round on Thursday where the Huskers dispatched Minnesota yesterday. Ohio State is the two seed and Nebraska the three so it only makes sense that they face off to take on the #1 Hoosiers.
If Indiana can win one of two against their next opponent they have a very good shot at being able to host a regional in their first year in the new baseball stadium. That would be quite a sweet deal for Indiana to have the opportunity to showcase the beautiful if not completely finished new field. As things stand the Hoosiers are ranked #12 overall by Baseball America and could potentially launch into the top 10 if they finish a clean sweep of the weekend.
A lot is riding on the Hoosiers ability to not just win the whole thing but to do it in impressive fashion. They've already beat the conference ERA leader and blasted the #2 team, now they need to take whichever team they're tabbed to play whether it being Ohio State again or Nebraska and run them off the field. Convincing wins over qualities teams means a greater chance at hosting a regional. As of now they're projected to host Virginia Tech, Kentucky and Kent State, but they need to keep winning to make sure that happens.