NCAA: Who Is the Best Basketball Team in Indiana?

Who Is the Best Basketball Team in Indiana?

This question is asked every year. Typically, it is phrased a little differently than the title of this article though. The question is usually, "Who is the best in Indiana this year, I.U or Purdue?" You can’t phrase it that way this year. Notre Dame was the most highly regarded going in to this year. The Hoosiers already beat them at South Bend. Indiana State has already beaten the Hoosiers. Yes, Purdue beat Arizona, but if you have seen them play any other games besides that one, you know why I wouldn’t consider them the best in the state.

The state of Indiana has always been crazy about their basketball teams and they usually have good reason to be. Last year, the state had several teams appear in the NCAA tournament in March. If you remember correctly, Butler almost knocked off Florida in the first round. Nobody would have said that Butler was the best team in the state last season, but that very well could have been the case. Even though the conference schedules have not started, I believe the Indiana State Sycamores could be considered the best in the state at this point. As I mentioned before, they already beat Indiana as well as a recent defeat of Butler.

Wait a second, they won their matches with the Hoosiers and Bulldogs on their home court. So who is the best in the state on a neutral court? Is it Indiana, Notre Dame, Ball State, Purdue, Valpo, Indiana State, Butler, or the newest NCAA team in the state, IUPUI? You could easily make a case for five of these eight teams. Don’t forget Valparaiso has pulled off a big upset or two before. Homer Drew and his Crusaders were the Cinderella team of March just a couple of years ago. Ball State has put together some solid teams in the past and IUPUI is improving.

I have the answer to the question. We should have an early season tournament with all eight of these teams. You could play it in the RCA Dome or better yet, the Conseco Fieldhouse. Give the tournament a creative name like the Great Indiana Shootout-just joking. Or maybe we could make it a class tournament where the schools with the highest enrollments play each other and the schools with the lowest enrollments play each other. That is the way they do it in high school basketball in Indiana and seems to be going over with the fans quite well-joking again.

I do think the tournament would be a good idea though. It would definitely give one team and their fans bragging rights for the entire year. You would not have to wait until the Big Ten started for the possibility of an Indiana and Purdue game. One downside to the state tournament might be that once the winner was determined, people would not debate about the topic as much.

However, I am sure the basketball crazies of Indiana would still argue about an official’s call or one of their star players was hurt or sick that game. Basketball fans are usually good about coming up with excuses for losses.

For the time being, all the teams, coaches, and fans of the state colleges will just have to claim they are the best in the state just like they always do. A couple of years down the road, maybe a tournament like this will happen. Until then, the answer to the question is the Indiana Pacers are the best basketball team in the state.