Following a 2019-20 season that had no NCAA Tournament and saw its conference tournaments cancelled halfway through, or before some conferences even began play, the 2021 postseason schedule has been a major talking point across all of college basketball recently.
Coaches and players have voiced their opinion on opting out of conference tournaments and the mood around how important each tournament would be for programs and individual conferences.
Indiana head coach Archie Miller addressed those conversations on Monday.
"This year is a lot different especially with the NCAA tournament roughly days away (following the conference tournaments)," Miller said. "Teams having some setbacks or what it may be with COVID protocols and what not jeopardize your standing in the NCAA tournament, I think there is some concern.
"I think the Big Ten Tournament is something that is very special especially for our league. In a normal year, it is one of the most competitive and toughest things to do to play 20 conference games and go right into the tournament and have a chance to advance. And if you do that in the conference tournament especially in our league and playing in venues like Chicago that we do, you set yourself up for a good postseason run."
As of now, the Big Ten Tournament is scheduled for March 10-14 in Chicago. Recently, however, reports have indicated that it could very easily be moved to Indianapolis.
It has already been announced that the NCAA Tournament will take place entirely in the state of Indiana. Because of the lack of time from the end of the Big Ten Tournament to the beginning of the NCAA Tournament, having the teams already in Indianapolis will limit the potential for COVID cases to pop up due to travel.
"I think it does make sense if that were to happen. It protects the teams who are in the tournament with less travel," Miller said. "I think Indianapolis being where everything is going to be held makes some sense if that were to happen. I think that is definitely something that has been discussed and has been thrown around that if it happens, it will be a good move.
"I think there are some teams here who have gone through some things the last couple of weeks and look at it (Big Ten Tournament) and say this could really be something that could derail us as we have an opportunity to approach post-season," Miller noted.
Indiana was one of few programs this season to make it through its entire non-conference schedule without a postponement. That included a trip to Asheville, NC for the Maui Invitational as well as a trip to Florida to play Florida State.
The Hoosiers have had adjustments to its schedule in conference play, however. Two of the last four games for Indiana have been postponed (Michigan State, Michigan) due to COVID outbreaks in the opposing teams programs.
"I don’t know. It seems to me that our league in general is starting to get hit with some new stuff," Miller said.
As of now, there is no clear plan on when those two games will get rescheduled.
But, with how strong the Big Ten Conference is, each game matters more than some other conference games will. There have been anywhere from 9-12 Big Ten teams projected in the NCAA Tournament field recently, and even just one game in the Big Ten Tournament could mean the difference between playing in the NCAA Tournament and potentially not.
"I do think it is an important element to our league because our league which is going to beat each other up through the course of these 20 games and with the different types of non-conference schedules and profiles that you have, a game here or there could really mean the difference who is in the middle bottom third playing for a tournament bid," Miller said. "I think it is something we are all cognitive of that it's important at the end of the year.
"I think from all of our coach’s standpoints, as we have conversed about it... I know we will do the right thing as coaches and be on the same page whenever that happens."
Indiana sits at 9-7 (4-5) in the conference as of Monday but is just two games away from being tied for fourth, or from being 13th in the conference standings.
Depending on how the rest of the regular season plays out, the Big Ten Tournament will most likely play a critical part in Indiana's potential NCAA Tournament bid.
"I think from our league’s perspective it's (Big Ten Tournament) a go... As of right now, it is something that we are planning on doing and excited to get to it."
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