After posting a 1-6 record down the stretch, including five losses by 13 or more points, the selection committee showed no grace to the Indiana Hoosiers on Selection Sunday. The Hoosiers were firmly on the bubble in the final weeks of the season, and were unsurprisingly left out of the March Madness field when the bracket was revealed. Indiana has now missed the NCAA Tournament in eight of the last 10 seasons, and the Darian DeVries era in Bloomington if off to a rocky start.
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After the 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament was announced on Sunday night, the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) then released its 32-team bracket shortly after. As the fourth team out of the NCAA Tournament field, Indiana received an invite to the NIT. However, the Hoosiers have denied that bid and will not be playing postseason basketball of any kind this season.
The Hoosiers reportedly plan to decline an NIT invite after falling short of the NCAA Tournament. pic.twitter.com/GvFQR2H2BW
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 16, 2026
Hoosiers decline NIT invitation after missing NCAA Tournament
The Hoosiers rarely participate in the NIT, instead focusing on NCAA Tournament appearances. This is the third consecutive season in which IU has declined an NIT invite. Last week, the Indiana women's basketball team also declined an invitation to participate in the NIT.
As a team that came so close to qualifying for March Madness this season, the Hoosiers would have been one of the top seeds in the NIT and possibly had the chance to host games at Assembly Hall. Instead, Auburn, New Mexico, Wake Forest, and Tulsa claimed the four No. 1 seeds in the NIT.
Indiana ends Year 1 of the Darian DeVries era with an overall record of 18-14 with a mark of 9-11 in Big Ten play during the regular season. The Hoosiers needed a strong showing in the Big Ten Tournament to keep their March Madness dreams alive, but after a disappointing one-and-done performance with a 13-point loss to Northwester, Indiana's NCAA Tournament fate was all but sealed.
Indiana's senior group of Lamar Wilkerson, Conor Enright, Reed Bailey, Tayton Conerway, Tucker DeVries, and Sam Alexis accounted for nearly 78% of minutes played and over 84.1% of the scoring this past season. That leaves DeVries and his staff with plenty of work to do in re-tooling IU's roster for 2026-27 and beyond.