Indiana Hoosiers Miss Out on NCAA Tournament for Third Straight Year
IU basketball will not be participating in the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive season. Despite finishing the regular season and the Big Ten tournament with an 18-14 record, the Hoosiers were not selected among the 68 teams revealed on the NCAA tournament selection show on CBS. Indiana was not among the first four teams out of the field, falling short of making it to March Madness once again.
In the preseason, Indiana was projected to finish 10th in the Big Ten, and they ended up in that exact spot. However, this placement was not enough to secure a spot in the NCAA tournament. The Hoosiers will not be playing in any secondary postseason tournaments like the Crown or the NIT, signaling the end of the 2025-26 season and the beginning of the offseason for the team.
The last time Indiana participated in the NCAA tournament was in 2023, where they reached the round of 32 under Mike Woodson's leadership. Unfortunately, they were defeated 85-69 by Miami (FL) in Albany, New York. With several seniors on the roster and expected attrition, the team is likely to undergo another roster reset in preparation for Darian DeVries' second season in Bloomington.
Nine Big Ten teams managed to secure a spot in the 2026 NCAA tournament, including Michigan, Nebraska, Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, Iowa, UCLA, Purdue, and Wisconsin. The transfer portal is set to open on Tuesday, April 7, as the Hoosiers look towards building a competitive team for the upcoming seasons.