For the third straight season, the Indiana Hoosiers -- numberFire's 40th-ranked team by our nERD metric -- will not be in the Big Dance. It's not for lack of trying.

The Hoosiers won two games over the Michigan State Spartans, the Big Ten Tournament winners and regular-season co-champions and a 2 seed in the East bracket. They also compiled wins over the Wisconsin Badgers, Marquette Golden Eagles, and Louisville Cardinals. The team could simply not win away from home, however.

The Hoosiers compiled a solid 13-5 home record, but they were just 3-9 on the road, which included a 23-point loss to the Michigan Wolverines, and 21-point losses to both the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Duke Blue Devils.

With a 1 seed in the NIT Tournament, IU will at least get a chance to redeem themselves. It will be hard for them to understand, however, why the NCAA selection committee passed them over for teams like the Arizona State Sun Devils (58th in nERD) and St. John's Red Storm (69th).