The Morehead State Eagles and the Indiana Hoosiers meet Monday in college basketball action from Bloomington Assembly Hall. Morehead State went 23-11 overall last season, finishing in third place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. As for Indiana, they’re coming off a 21-14 campaign and an NCAA Tournament appearance last season. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Morehead State didn’t quite match their 23-8 overall record from 2020-21 last season, but they still put up a decent effort in a competitive conference. The Eagles would finish 23-11 overall in 2021-22 with a 13-5 mark in OVC play. That left the team in third place in the standings.
Morehead State posted an 8-5 run through their first 13 non-conference games. The Eagles would hit a 11-1 run to start out OVC play, however. Morehead State stumbled a bit at the end of the year with a 2-4 run, then went on to fall to Murray State in the OVC Tournament Championship.
Over on the Indiana side, they had an uphill battle in a crowded Big Ten Conference last season. The Hoosiers ultimately went 21-14 overall and 9-11 in conference play. That result would leave Indiana in ninth place in the standings.
Indiana started out the season on a nice run, and that held through January. The Hoosiers were 16-5 at one point, but the team would lose seven of their final nine regular-season games. Indiana lost to Iowa in the Big Ten tourney, then fell to Saint Mary’s in the First Round of the national tournament.
The Eagles are 4-1 ATS in their last five overall and 5-2 ATS in their last seven road games. Indiana is 5-1 ATS in their last six overall and 11-4 ATS in their last 15 at home.
PICK: I’m probably going to stick with Indiana here. Mike Woodson did a pretty solid job in his first season, guiding the Hoosiers to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016. (The team was blown out 82-53 in the First Round by Saint Mary’s, though.) The good news for Indiana is that they retain seven of their top nine scorers this year and boast the ninth-ranked recruiting class in the nation. Seniors Xavier Johnson and Trayce Jackson-Davis should once again have big impacts for the Hoosiers, and that should all begin in this opener.