Fresh off their MVC Tournament victory Indiana State makes its first appearance on Joe Lunardi's Bracketology, placing 14th in ESPN's first attempt to make sense of the Missouri Valley Conference's new autobid-holder. They're currently pegged to play San Diego State in the Tucson regional. Missouri State, the long-time placeholder at the position, had been a 12th seed; with that tournament loss they've fallen onto the wrong side of the bubble, stuck as one of Lunardi's first teams out of the tournament.
In Indiana State's last season as MVC postseason champs the Sycamores won a first round upset over Oklahoma by a score of 70-68 before falling to Dan Dickau and Gonzaga in an 85-68 loss in the second round. The next year they fell to 6-22, and they haven't been back to the tournament since. Past that two year run as an MVC big-shot their last nationally notable season was 1979, when Larry Bird took them to a 33-1 season before ascending to Boston on a cloud.