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It’s time for Indiana fans to start fretting about a trip to the NIT

Indiana v Nebraska

LINCOLN, NE - JANUARY 30: during their game at Pinnacle Bank Arena on January 30, 2014 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Eric Francis/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***

Eric Francis

We’re approaching panic time for Indiana Hoosier fans.

On Thursday night, Tom Crean’s club was outscored 41-23 in the second half by Nebraska, blowing a 13-point halftime lead in a 60-55 loss that dropped them to 13-8 overall and 3-5 in the Big Ten.

That’s not a good thing, but what’s far more troubling is the fact Indiana is staring a fall from being a No. 1 seed to an NIT team straight in the face.

Their best win right now is over Wisconsin, which looked like something the Hoosiers could hang their resume before the Badgers became quite beatable. Now that win over Wisconsin is something that Indiana shares in common with Northwestern. Resume defining? Not so much.

Here’s the problem: that’s really the only noteworthy win that the Hoosiers have. They beat Stony Brook. And Washington. And handed Illinois their sixth straight loss ... a month after losing to the Illini. Indiana was 63rd in the RPI before losing to Nebraska, and if the season ended today, they probably would not even be in consideration for an at-large bid.

It’s still way too early to write the Hoosiers off, however. They still play Michigan twice, pay a visit to Minnesota and Wisconsin, and get home games against Iowa and Ohio State. That’s before they play in the Big Ten tournament. They’ll have ample opportunities to put together the wins needed to play their way into the Big Dance.

But this is a team chock-full of freshmen and sophomores that doesn’t have enough perimeter shooting or consistent support for Yogi Ferrell.

Out of the six games that I just mentioned, who can Indiana actually beat?