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Aaron

#IUMS NCAA Tournament

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1 pm today we find out our seed in NCAA Tournament on NCAA.com which will stream it live for free.  

Hoping for a top 8 seed and think we get it but no way we get a top 4 which means we only get two home games and have to go on road for Elite 8 barring an upset if we survive that far.

Unlike last year not going to speculate who we play but will break match ups down after 1 pm once we know who we are playing.  

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Most mixed Bracket I have ever seen from our perspective.

First off the NCAA finally gave the one seed in Virginia the easiest path as they should of unlike last two years where we got the easiest path as the two seed and Wake got a hard one as the one seed. I would be stunned if we are not matched up with UVA in College Cup if we make it that far given they have paper tigers in SMU and UCF as their 8/9 seeds and St. Johns who has faded as their 16.

The other side of the bracket (the side opposite of IU who we could not face till National Championship) is much tougher with Georgetown, Clemson, Stanford and Washington who are all legit College Cup Contenders and PSU and VA Tech who are solid powers over there as well.

Our corner on the UVA side is a complete mixed bag. To give us UK in the first game is blatantly unfair since they just missed being seeded. I get the Regional thing and NCAA loving rematches but as the 5 seed we should not get someone that good potentially next Sunday. If Loyola somehow upsets Kentucky (I don't expect this) then we have it made as the Ramblers are one of the worst teams in the field.

If we get past UK, St. Mary's is probably (along with UC Davis) one of the two worst seeded teams in the field in my mind. They have a terrific record but have beaten absolutely no one with a pulse and lost to the aforementioned UC Davis. Numbers are terrific but they have beaten up on little sisters of the pour and we handled Mid Major teams with exactly the same profiles in Sweet 16 last two years in New Hampshire and Air Force. I actually think UK is a better team and if we are lucky enough to get past them, should have little trouble with the Gales or UC Santa Barbara or Cal who could easily beat St. Mary's. 

Elite 8 Wake Forest is a problem and I don't see anyway we can beat the Demon Deacons in North Carolina. With that said if Michigan does us a solid and takes care of Wake in Sweet 16 we would then get them at Armstrong Stadium and we absolutely own the Wolverines as we do pretty much every team in conference not named Maryland.

Us getting back to College Cup for third straight year almost entirely rests on whether we can get past UK if we play them and if we can avoid Wake because they get upset. If both those things happen I would be shocked if we are not in the Final Four for third straight year.

I will preview individual match ups as we know who they are but that is a general outline. We start Sunday at 12pm vs probably the rival Wildcats assuming they get by Loyola.  

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16 hours ago, Aaron said:

Most mixed Bracket I have ever seen from our perspective.

First off the NCAA finally gave the one seed in Virginia the easiest path as they should of unlike last two years where we got the easiest path as the two seed and Wake got a hard one as the one seed. I would be stunned if we are not matched up with UVA in College Cup if we make it that far given they have paper tigers in SMU and UCF as their 8/9 seeds and St. Johns who has faded as their 16.

The other side of the bracket (the side opposite of IU who we could not face till National Championship) is much tougher with Georgetown, Clemson, Stanford and Washington who are all legit College Cup Contenders and PSU and VA Tech who are solid powers over there as well.

Our corner on the UVA side is a complete mixed bag. To give us UK in the first game is blatantly unfair since they just missed being seeded. I get the Regional thing and NCAA loving rematches but as the 5 seed we should not get someone that good potentially next Sunday. If Loyola somehow upsets Kentucky (I don't expect this) then we have it made as the Ramblers are one of the worst teams in the field.

If we get past UK, St. Mary's is probably (along with UC Davis) one of the two worst seeded teams in the field in my mind. They have a terrific record but have beaten absolutely no one with a pulse and lost to the aforementioned UC Davis. Numbers are terrific but they have beaten up on little sisters of the pour and we handled Mid Major teams with exactly the same profiles in Sweet 16 last two years in New Hampshire and Air Force. I actually think UK is a better team and if we are lucky enough to get past them, should have little trouble with the Gales or UC Santa Barbara or Cal who could easily beat St. Mary's. 

Elite 8 Wake Forest is a problem and I don't see anyway we can beat the Demon Deacons in North Carolina. With that said if Michigan does us a solid and takes care of Wake in Sweet 16 we would then get them at Armstrong Stadium and we absolutely own the Wolverines as we do pretty much every team in conference not named Maryland.

Us getting back to College Cup for third straight year almost entirely rests on whether we can get past UK if we play them and if we can avoid Wake because they get upset. If both those things happen I would be shocked if we are not in the Final Four for third straight year.

I will preview individual match ups as we know who they are but that is a general outline. We start Sunday at 12pm vs probably the rival Wildcats assuming they get by Loyola.  

From what i have seen Maryland is very hot and cold. Maybe Wake Forest will get the hot. 

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Ugh. Loyola almost did us a solid and beat UK for us but fell 8 min. short.

I saw most of the game and if that UK team shows up we have a great chance. This was not the UK team that played us so close earlier this year. If they are simply playing to their competition and had a bad night and bring the same effort they did first time against us we are in for a handful.

In terms of talent we have not faced a team this talented in first round since 2014 when we faced Xavier and they beat us. A big part of that game though was we beat ourselves missing a PK and played the game in a rainstorm.

Fortunately it will be decent weather Sunday and if we improve between game 1 and game 2 like we did against Maryland and UK brings half the effort we are good. I hate the randomness of the unseeded teams and wish they would just seed teams 17-48 with no. 48 playing no.17 who would be opposite be opposite the 16 seed etc. 

With that said you draw who you get and if we are truly a top 5 team we should be able to beat any team seeded 17-48. This UK team lost to a talented but struggling Louisville team 3-0. UK though has 37 goals scored and 16 against which is terrific for an unseeded team. That adds up to a hair over 1.75 goals a game and just .77 against. These are generally numbers of a seeded team.

We better be ready as our A game beats their A game just barely but we better bring our best or it will be a repeat of the 2014 Xavier game which was only true failure of an NCAA Tournament for us in Yeagley era as a 7 seed. 

Sunday Noon and game will either be on BTN.

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The No. 8-ranked Indiana University men's soccer team (14-2-4) will host a familiar foe in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament in the No. 19-ranked Kentucky Wildcats (13-4-3). First kick is slated for noon ET on Nov. 24 from Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium. 

Game will be televised on the basic BTN channel.  The game will also be streamed on the BTN and live stats will be available at IUHoosiers.com.

Weather forecast looks very nice with temps predicted in the low 40's under sunny skies and light wind from the WSW.

Live Stats

Game Stream


 
SETTING THE SCENE
• Indiana earned the No. 5 overall for the 2019 NCAA Tournament, marking the 15th time since the current seeding format began in 2003 that IU earned a top-16 seed. Indiana has earned a top-8 seed 10 times since 2003.
• The berth for the Hoosiers marked the team's 33rd-straight bid to the NCAA Tournament and the 44th overall in the program's history, the most of any team in the 2019 NCAA Tournament field. 
• Indiana posted a mark of 5-2-4 against NCAA Tournament teams this season, including victories over No. 13 Michigan and No. 15 Penn State. Indiana secured wins over unseeded teams in Denver, Pittsburgh, and Seattle. Maryland nabbed an at-large bid out of the Big Ten Conference into the NCAA Tournament.
• The three seeded teams produced by the Big Ten is the second most of any conference. The Atlantic Coast Conference placed four teams on the national seed line. 
 
NEWS AND NOTES
• Indiana claimed the outright Big Ten regular season championship for the second-straight season and the 16th time overall in program history after finishing the eight-game league slate with a record of 7-1-0. 
• The back-to-back regular season titles mark the first time Indiana has repeated as champions since winning the 2006 and 2007 crowns. 
• Indiana doubled down on the championship success after edging Michigan, 4-3, in a PK shootout to claim the 14th Big Ten Tournament championship in program history, and second in as many seasons. 
• The championship double is the 10th in program history, the most in the Big Ten Conference. Indiana pulled off the double for the second-straight season for the first time since the 1998 and 1999 seasons. 
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
• The Kentucky Wildcats enter the 2019 NCAA Tournament second round matchup with an overall record of 13-4-3 (4-2-1 C-USA) and finished the regular season as the fourth seed in the C-USA tournament.
• Kentucky earned seven Conference USA postseason plaudits this season, highlighted by redshirt junior Aimé Mabika. The Lexington, Ky., native was named C-USA Player of the Year, Co-Defensive MVP, and a first-team all-conference.
• Junior Kalil ElMedkhar joined Mabika on the All-C-USA first team, while junior Enrique Facusse, sophomore Marcel Meinzer, and sophomore Daniel Evans were named to the all-conference second team.
• ElMedkhar (six goals, seven assists) and Evans (seven goals, five assists) tied for the team-lead in total points scored this season with 19. 
• Facusse posted one shutout, a goals-against average of 0.76, and a save percentage of .729 in 20 starts in net. 
• Indiana and Kentucky played to a 0-0 draw on Oct. 9 in Bloomington. 
 
SERIES HISTORY
• The Hoosiers hold a 25-2-4 series advantage over the Wildcats in a series that dates back to the 1973 campaign. IU has outscored UK by a tally of 98-17 during the series.
• Kentucky snapped a 20-game unbeaten streak for Indiana in the series with a 3-0 victory on Oct. 3, 2018. The Hoosiers were 17-0-3 during the streak.
• IU is 14-1-2 at Armstrong Stadium against UK.
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• The berth for the Hoosiers is the team's 33rd-straight bid to the NCAA Tournament and the 44th overall in the program's history.
• Indiana has an NCAA-best .725 (91-33-5) winning percentage in the tournament, while the 91 victories are also tops in the NCAA.
• Stanford is second in the NCAA with a winning percentage of .667 (29-13-6), while UCLA's 72 tournament victories ranks second.
• IU has appeared in 20 College Cups, which leads all Division I teams, and won its eighth national title in 2012.
 
INDIANA UNDEFEATED IN LAST 37 HOME MATCHES
• The Hoosiers are undefeated in the team's last 37 matches at Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium, posting a mark of 33-0-4.
• IU's last loss at home came to No. 20 Virginia Tech, 2-1 in overtime, on Nov. 27, 2016 in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
• The 37-match home-unbeaten streak is the second-longest streak in program history and ranks as the fifth-longest unblemished streak in NCAA history.
 
INDIANA DOES NOT CONCEDE IN B1G TOURNAMENT
• The top-seeded Hoosiers ran through nearly 303 minutes and three games of the 2019 Big Ten Conference Tournament without yielding a goal from the opposition. 
• In the quarterfinal round, Indiana ended the season of the eighth-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes with a 2-0 result. Freshman Joshua Penn and redshirt junior A.J. Palazzolo tallied the two Hoosier goals. 
• The Hoosiers exacted revenge on the fifth-seeded and tournament host Maryland Terrapins in the semifinals by a 1-0 victory. Sophomore Jack Maher secured the match-winning goal from the spot.
• For the second-straight season, Indiana shutout Michigan in the conference title match. The Hoosiers outdueled the Wolverines by a count of 4-3 in penalty kicks following 110 minutes of scoreless soccer. 
 
IMPRESSIVE RECORD VS. NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
• In IU's last 54 regular season matches against non-conference opponents dating back through the 2014 season, the Hoosiers have posted an impressive record of 41-5-8.
 
IUMS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
• Indiana is ranked No. 6 in the country in the United Soccer Coaches poll. IU is ranked No. 6 in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer and No. 7 by College Soccer News. 
 

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1 minute ago, RatpigHoosier said:

Thanks. Never heard that before. Seems strange that only 2 SEC teams have soccer.


Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

Its pretty common in Olympic Sports to play in a different conference. IU plays Water Polo in a different conference (Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) since only IU and Michigan field teams. 

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