This has already been a historical season for IU.
Last season, IU went just 1-19 in the Big Ten. After the Hoosiers snapped their three-game losing streak Wednesday night with a win against Rutgers, the Hoosiers improved to 6-9 in the conference this season.
In the previous three seasons combined, IU had won a combined six games in the Big Ten, going 6-54.
Also, a team that went from winning one conference game to six conference games the very next season has only happened twice in the Big Ten since 1985.
With the addition of this year’s IU team, it makes three.
IU (15-12, 6-9) will play Michigan State (13-13, 6-9) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Both teams are 6-9 in the conference and in a logjam in the bottom half of the conference.
At the top of the Big Ten standings, six teams have a conference record better or equal to 9-6. After that, there’s a three-game gap in the conference standings.
IU is in a four-way tie for seventh place with Minnesota, Michigan and Michigan State.
The Spartans come into the game against the Hoosiers on a skid. After starting the season 5-3 in the Big Ten, the Spartans have gone just 1-6 since the hot start.
Their schedule has been tougher, as it’s played No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 11 Nebraska in two of their last three games.
In the very first conference game of the season on Sept. 26, Michigan State won in four sets against IU.
The game will be available on BTN Plus for a video stream, and the radio broadcast will be available on iuhoosiers.com .
Evan Hoopfer
