Indiana Hoosiers Can Control Their Own Destiny for End-of-Season Run

The Indiana Hoosiers are starting to peak again at the right time. They’ve won two of the last three games, including a 17-point win on the road in a hostile Mackey Arena against Purdue on Saturday night, and a 100-plus-point performance against Iowa the weekend before.

The Hoosiers' schedule favors them big time, as they can control their own fate for the rest of the season.

Indiana plays five of the last seven regular-season games at home in Assembly Hall with one of those games being a non-conference game against North Carolina Central on Feb. 22.

The only two road games are at Iowa on Feb. 19 and Minnesota on Feb. 25.

The Hoosiers currently are fifth in the Big Ten standings and only play one team above them in the standings the rest of the regular season, with that being a nationally televised home game against Michigan State on Feb. 29. The Hoosiers hung with the Spartans in the Big Ten opener for both halves, but faded in the end.

Another reason why the schedule favors them is that the Hoosiers are 13-1 at home this season with the lone loss coming to Minnesota more than a month ago. The Hoosiers have beaten the nation’s No. 1- and 2-ranked teams at home in a three-week span in December, and play extremely well in front of their home crowd.

If Indiana plays the way it should, it won’t have to travel more than 100 miles from campus to play a game until the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament if it makes it that far. The reason why that’s key is Indiana fans travel well and are such an advantage for this team. The Hoosiers just respond and play so much better in front of the home crowd.

As stated prior, Indiana is 13-1 at home this season, but it's also 3-0 in road/neutral-site games in the state of Indiana as well. Indiana beat Purdue and Evansville on the road and Notre Dame in Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as well.

The Big Ten tournament is played in Bankers Life Fieldhouse, and if the Hoosiers hold court to their schedule and finish with a bang, they surely will be a top-four seed in the NCAA tournament. They most likely will play their second- and third-round games in the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. if they finish strong and earn a top-four seed.

This could be monumental for the Hoosiers. With a good seed in the NCAA’s and having their home fans behind them, they should advance to the Sweet 16 if the matchups are right. That’s far beyond expectations that most people had them at before the season started.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m not any way shape or form saying pencil Indiana in for the Sweet 16. I know tournament games are intense, and nothing is guaranteed.

All I’m stating here is the Hoosiers' destiny is firmly in their own hands. The schedule is very favorable with minimal travel away from a crowd advantage. The Louisville site could be very fun with Kentucky most likely playing there as well.