Have the Indiana Hoosiers done enough to qualify for the NCAA Tournament? Coach Archie Miller sure thinks so, and he’s not afraid to call out anyone who might disagree.
As part of a lengthy defense of Indiana’s tournament resume, Miller hilariously compared bracketologists to “Sesame Street,” arguing that they’re just following scripts.
“You know, if you watch Sesame Street and listen to all of the characters on Sesame Street talk, and everyone gets all (worked up),” Miller said, via Garrett Stepien of 247 Sports. “It’s like, if you watch ‘Sesame Street,’ you listen to the guys on ‘Sesame Street,’ it’s a children show. Every bracketologist is a children show. Bottom line, we know (what) our resume is — strength of record — and that’s undeniable. It’s a top-25 strength of record. You don’t not put in a top-25 strength-of-record team with the wins that we have. Somebody’s going to have to answer some questions.”
Miller went on to offer several arguments in favor of Indiana’s inclusion in the field, including the team’s Quad 1 wins and non-conference schedule.
He also had a comment about ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, the most prominent bracketology in the media.
Archie Miller said that Joe Lunardi should "go back to the trash can" after being asked about Bracketology pic.twitter.com/E92frbcAnH
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 7, 2020
Lunardi has a rule that teams with a sub-.500 conference record shouldn’t make the tournament, and Indiana’s loss Saturday dropped the Hoosiers to a precarious 10-10 in Big Ten play ahead of the conference tournament.
As of Saturday afternoon, Lunardi still had Indiana in the field as one of his last four in despite Saturday’s loss. He also had a very amusing response to Miller’s commentary in the last line of his Saturday headlines post.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) March 7, 2020
As the most famous bracketologist, Lunardi’s opinions sometimes gain outsized weight in the college basketball community. That means coaches embrace him when his projections favor their teams, and they trash him when that’s not the case.
