CHICAGO — And now Indiana must wait.
While the Hoosiers hung with eighth-ranked Maryland for all of Friday night’s Big Ten quarterfinal, a 75-69 loss means the next two days will be uncertain ones.
[DraftKings: Play Conference Championship Fantasy? – Free entry with first deposit]
It's a precarious position that Tom Crean said he believed he's never experienced as a coach or even as an assistant.
“I don’t think so,” Crean said when asked if he'd ever entered a Selection Sunday without knowing the fate of his team. “It is what it is. We’re getting better. I love coaching these guys ... and I'm looking forward to continuing it next week."
The good news for Hoosiers fans is that most bracket projections have Indiana on the right side of the bubble, a spot they presumably claimed with a win over Northwestern in their tournament opener here on Thursday. An optimistic projection for 20-13 Indiana comes with a caveat — the Hoosiers could be one of the Dayton play-in teams on Tuesday — but it certainly beats the alternative of a home game in the NIT (which of course beats last year’s alternative of saying “We’re Indiana! We don’t play in the CBI!)
But should Indiana make the field, it remains unclear what their expectations should really hold. Crean crowed about his team's performance against a talented Maryland squad and for some good reason. The Hoosiers held their own against the Terrapins and were never out of it. Crean believes his young team is improving on the boards (it outrebounded a bigger Maryland squad 37-36) and one could argue the Hoosiers' strength on the perimeter will cause problems for more than a few teams in the field.
At the same time,* the Hoosiers haven’t beat an opponent of any repute since beating Maryland in Bloomington on Jan. 22. Their five victories since have all come against the bottom of the Big Ten — Rutgers (twice), Michigan, Minnesota and Northwestern. A win on Friday night would have removed all doubt about Indiana's NCAA worthiness and yet they still couldn't bring a victory home.
Earlier season wins over SMU, Butler and Ohio State might prove Indiana’s saving grace when the selection committee reveals the bracket on Sunday.
But can Indiana actually take advantage of a NCAA opportunity if granted and put a positive ending on a season that's been filled with speculation over Crean's future in Bloomington? It all depends if you want to buy into the moral victory that Crean was spinning after the loss to Maryland.
[Fill out a Tourney bracket and get a free Big Gulp Drink]
"I'm proud of our players," Crean said. "I'm proud of the way we've approached the week. I'm proud of the way we responded to a couple of tough games at the end, and with a team like this, the youth that they have, the fact that they're getting better this time of year is a very encouraging thing for us."

The Hoosiers received good news when they learned that the knee injury big man Hanner Mosquera-Perea suffered against Northwestern was "not what it looked like," according to Crean. Mosquera-Perea was not available against Maryland and likely wouldn't have played had Indiana advanced to this weekend's play, but Crean left the door open for a return in the NCAA tournament.
If they make it that far, of course.
"Hopefully we've done enough to make the tournament," junior Yogi Ferrell said after leading the team with 18 points. "If not, then so be it. But if we do, we feel like that we can play the same way [we did against Maryland] going into these next games."
*- - - - - - -
Kevin Kaduk is a writer for