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- That's all, folks. After failing to receive an NIT bid, Indiana is done with its disappointing 2013-14 campaign. I agree with our editor that IU's hideous non-conference schedule had a lot to do with this snub. One silver lining is at least we don't have to think about the NIT anymore. And not playing in the CBI was likely the right move as well. A very quick post-mortem: I think as Hoosiers fans, we have every right to be upset and frustrated about how this season turned out. This is a team filled with a lot of talent, but one that only seemed to put all that talent together a handful of times this season. We have another seven long months to be angry about how this season turned out before Hoosier Hysteria next fall, so my advice for today would be to relax, enjoy St. Patrick's Day, and have a laugh about everything bad that went down this season. After all, I think this fanbase as a whole takes itself a little too seriously sometimes, and things (hopefully) will only go up (yet again) from here.
- However, the NCAA tournament goes on without Indiana in it, and the Field of 68 is set. While Sunday night is reserved for Dick Vitale et al. to complain about the job the selection committee did, now it's time for everyone to get their predictions together. I'm hoping to have my picks up on the site in a couple days, but I'm notoriously terrible at picking brackets. However, I will always recommend the KenPom rankings, as well as Nate Silver's advice on FiveThirtyEight, which is relaunching via ESPN later today. Additionally, the main college basketball site at SB Nation has a ton of terrific college basketball writers who can hopefully guide you in the right direction.
- Not a single team from the state of Indiana even made the NCAA tournament. As the editor emeritus of this site points out, this is only the second time that this has happened in 40 years, the other being in 2005 (which was the penultimate year of the Mike Davis era and Gene Keady's final season at Purdue).
- Noah Vonleh is reportedly leaning towards entering the NBA Draft. While you could certainly make the argument that the freshman could use another season in Bloomington to sharpen his skills, this decision should come as no surprise, since he seems to be a projected top-10 pick across the board. Personally I think he'd be a great fit in Sacramento, filling the gap between Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins in the frontcourt, and his perimeter shooting could make him a weapon in the pros. But like Cody Zeller, he may need some more time and development before he makes an impact.
- More bad basketball news, as freshman Collin Hartman tore his ACL during a practice on Saturday. Hartman only played in 16 games this year with the Hoosiers, and the timing of the injury is unfortunate, as it came during a practice that eventually was for naught.
- In other IU athletics news: Baseball went one for three on the weekend at Long Beach State, losing the rubber match 2-1 yesterday. The men's distance relay team placed third at the NCAA Indoor Track national championships. And Water Polo defeated UC-Davis yesterday, by the score of 11-10.