Indiana bubble watch: NCAA Tournament resume after disastrous loss to Northwestern

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Indiana bubble watch: NCAA Tournament resume after disastrous loss to Northwestern

Lorenzo J Reyna, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Thu, Mar 12, 2026 ·

2 min read

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Indiana basketball became obliterated by Northwestern Wednesday . One fanbase trolled the Hoosiers for their latest March debacle on the hardwood. But IU fans are now on pins and needles ahead of the NCAA Tournament.

Because Indiana's March Madness fate now rests in the selection committee's hands.

Northwestern went from No. 15 seed to smacking the No. 10 seed IU 74-61. The Wildcats in turn boosted their own tourney resume even in a loaded Big Ten field.

The conference will see more than five teams get inserted into the 68-team field. But is there enough on Indiana's resume that still speaks to sneaking in as a play-in? It's time to dive into where things stand now in scrutinizing Indiana.

Indiana March Madness odds

IU stood at 17-11 not long ago , featuring a 90.3% chance of making it to the field of 68 per Team Rankings. But that percentage arrived in late February.

The Northwestern debacle delivered a massive hit on IU's chances, as the Hoosiers now hold a dismal 22% chance to break in . That also includes their at-large chances.

Worse for IU? One bracketologist began to write off Indiana even before falling to Northwestern. ESPN's Joe Lunardi called IU one of his first teams out two days before the 13-point debacle.

Indiana joined New Mexico, Virginia Tech and Stanford in that same category. Lunardi isn't the only one writing off the Hoosiers either.

CBS Sports bracketology continuously updates its projected seedings and matchups . The outlet places nine Big Ten teams filling the bracket…but Indiana isn't one of those teams.

What happens to Indiana now?

The Hoosiers are now watching Ohio State enter the tourney picture. The same Buckeyes team that ended Indiana's regular season with a loss, plus witnessed Bruce Thornton make school history at OSU .

That win plus the Buckeyes' upset of Iowa Thursday has raised Ohio State's chances to enter the tournament. CBS places the Buckeyes as a No. 8 seed now in the west regional against Big 12 representative TCU.

As for IU, it's looking like the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) will be calling the Hoosiers for a spot in its field. The NIT is historically the place where rejected tournament teams end up.

But Indiana looks like it'll accept its third straight season of missing out on the 68-team realm. First-year head coach Darian DeVries will need to regroup, recruit and reignite Hoosiers basketball next season as IU is facing getting snubbed on Selection Sunday.

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