IU better make Atlantis count because there’s not much else to nonconference schedule

BLOOMINGTON – As expected, Indiana’s 2024-25 nonconference schedule will be headlined by the Hoosiers’ November trip to The Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.

On Tuesday, we learned Atlantis will eat up most of the oxygen on that schedule, period.

The program announced its 11-game out-of-conference slate via email and on social media Tuesday. The announcement added little color to a schedule the highlights of which — the three games at Atlantis and a one-off visit from South Carolina — were already well-traveled.

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Behind them lies a lot of filler, but the reasoning behind that is interesting. Some thoughts on IU’s nonconference schedule:

Battle 4 Atlantis better count

Bart Torvik’s summer projections rank the eight-team Battle 4 Atlantis field like this:

No. 9 Gonzaga

No. 10 Arizona

No. 31 Indiana

No. 60 Providence

No. 62 Louisville

No. 67 Oklahoma

No. 83 West Virginia

No. 157 Davidson

We don’t know brackets yet, but if those numbers hold true to form (give or take the margin of error) across next season, there should be some decent wins to claim on the island.

IU had better take advantage. There’s precious little elsewhere on the nonconference schedule from a quality perspective.

Of course, the Hoosiers absolutely can. Presuming they end up on the same side of the bracket with one of Arizona or Gonzaga, that would potentially present multiple opportunities for marquee nonconference wins away from home. And since Atlantis is a neutral site, Providence, Louisville and Oklahoma could all be turned easily into worthwhile wins in the long run (if we base this purely on preseason projections).

But outside South Carolina coming to Bloomington, there’s not much more heft here at all, and even the Gamecocks’ potential contribution is debatable. IU had better be prepared to do its best work in paradise.

Value…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/iu-better-atlantis-count-because-193547003.html

Author : IndyStar | The Indianapolis Star

Publish date : 2024-07-09 19:35:47

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