3 Goals For Indiana Basketball To Achieve Successful Season

Defining success for the Indiana basketball program in 2026 can be tricky.

Portions of the fan base still aspire to win Big Ten titles and make Final Four runs annually, because that was tradition in the Bob Knight era. It's a good thing that passion still exists and makes Assembly Hall one of college basketball's best venues. But it's not necessarily realistic, as the program has fallen short of those standards for over two decades.

Following its most recent Final Four run in 2002, Indiana has reached the NCAA Tournament just 10 times in the last 23 seasons. That includes just three Sweet 16 appearances –– most recently in 2016, when Indiana won its last Big Ten title.

Coach Darian DeVries is on the brink of an NCAA Tournament appearance, which would be a nice accomplishment in his first season. But at 17-9 overall and 8-7 in the Big Ten, it's still unknown whether DeVries is the coach to bring Indiana back to glory. Of course, he'll get additional seasons to try to achieve that, regardless of how year one wraps up.

So, what would make for a successful first season under DeVries? With five regular season games left, here are three goals.

1. Finish above .500 in Big Ten play

Following Sunday's 71-51 loss at No. 8 Illinois, Indiana fell to 8-7 in conference play, good for 10th place in the Big Ten standings. That leave five regular season games before the Big Ten Tournament, and several opportunities for resume-boosting wins.

at No. 13 Purdue, Feb. 20 – Quad 1
vs. Northwestern, Feb. 24 – Quad 3
vs. No. 10 Michigan State, March 1 – Quad 1
vs. Minnesota, March 4 – Quad 3
at Ohio State, March 7 – Quad 1

Lamar Wilkerson Indiana Basketball — Indiana's Lamar Wilkerson (3) shoots against Wisconsin at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Finishing above .500 in Big Ten play may seem like a low bar for a program so proud of its history like Indiana. But in recent history, it's been a tough one to clear.

The Hoosiers went 10-10 in conference play each of the last two seasons, resulting in coach Mike Woodson's departure. Woodson went 12-8 in 2022-23, marking the only time Indiana has gone above .500 in Big Ten play since 2015-16.

Woodson went 9-12 in his first year but still managed to reach the NCAA Tournament, while Archie Miller went 7-12, 9-11, 8-12 and 9-9 with zero tournament appearances before his firing. Even Tom Crean –– who won two Big Ten titles –– only went above .500 in three of his nine seasons.

So yes, if DeVries can lead the Hoosiers to at least three wins across their final five games, it'd be a good accomplishment to go over .500 in conference play. Sure, there will always be something to critique and higher aspirations to shoot for in future seasons. But in year one, it'd be a nice box to check.

2. Defeat a higher-ranked team in Big Ten Tournament

This would be another way for DeVries to differentiate himself from his predecessors and show he could be moving the program in the right direction. It might also be necessary in order to reach the NCAA Tournament. But again, it's not necessarily a high bar.

Indiana has been historically bad in the Big Ten Tournament, going 17-27 since its inception in 1998. The Hoosiers have won two games in a single conference tournament just three times: 2022 under Woodson, along with the 2003 and 2001 tournaments under Mike Davis.

Woodson's 4-4 record in the event is respectable compared to Miller, who went 1-3 with his lone win coming days before the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down. Crean went 4-9 following Davis' solid 7-6 run. And even Bob Knight went just 1-3 in the event.

Tucker DeVries Indiana Basketball — Indiana Hoosiers forwards Tucker DeVries (12) and Sam Alexis (4) celebrate against the Wisconsin Badgers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

DeVries' has the Hoosiers in 10th place in the Big Ten standings at 8-7, but a lot could change over the next five games. Indiana is looking up Ohio State (8-6), Iowa (8-6) and UCLA (9-5), but it likely can't catch Wisconsin (10-4), Michigan State (10-4) or the conference's top-tier teams. Below the Hoosiers, USC (7-7), Washington (5-10), and Minnesota (4-10) are still within reach.

That means Indiana will most likely end up somewhere between the No. 11 and No. 7 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. The top four seeds get a triple-bye to Friday's quarterfinals, while seeds No. 5 through 8 play their first games on Thursday. The No. 9 through 14 seeds get a single-bye to Wednesday, and seeds No. 15 through 18 play Tuesday.

As things stand, No. 10 seed Indiana would play Wednesday against either No. 15 Maryland or No. 18 Penn State. It'd be a sign of progress to see the Hoosiers win their first game, and then defeat No. 7 seed UCLA on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals.

From there, it's all gravy and probably unrealistic to expect Indiana to beat someone like No. 2 Illinois. We just saw how that went on Sunday.

Updated Big Ten Tournament brackets pic.twitter.com/ujIzHcA1xE
— ᗩᑎT ᗯᖇIGᕼT (@itsAntWright) February 15, 2026

3. Win an NCAA Tournament game

Indiana put itself in pretty good spot to reach the NCAA Tournament with a 5-1 stretch that included wins over Rutgers, Purdue, UCLA, Wisconsin and Oregon, plus a narrow road loss to USC.

In CBS Sports' latest Bracketology, the Hoosiers are a No. 9 seed. BracketMatrix updated Monday afternoon, and all 102 projections put Indiana in the field with an average seed of 9.48. The Hoosiers aren't safe just yet, but a 3-2 finish to the regular season would likely secure an at-large bid –– perhaps even 2-3 with a Big Ten Tournament win or two.

Assuming for now that it gets there, Indiana winning one NCAA Tournament game would make for a successful first season under DeVries. It's also the most important goal of the three listed here.

It'd likely come in the 8-9 or 7-10 game, followed by a big loss to a No. 1 or 2 seed in the Round of 32. But considering the roster isn't all that talented outside of Lamar Wilkerson and a few others, it's hard to expect much more. It's not asking for a lot to begin with either, but it'd be a step forward from previous coaches.

Woodson took the Hoosiers to two NCAA Tournament in four years, including losses in the Round of 64 and Round of 32. Miller never got there, and Crean couldn't get past the Sweet 16 despite four tournament appearances and three as a top-five seed.

One March Madness win would restore some excitement in the program and be a good building block in year one. If he can get there with an upset in the Big Ten Tournament and conference record above .500, even better.

The focus would then turn to DeVries' roster construction strategies heading into year two, as his current roster seemed to have flaws from the beginning.

Indiana's NCAA Tournament Projections With Selection Sunday A Month Away

Glaring Talent Gap On Display In Indiana's Loss At Illinois

Indiana Basketball's Size, Shooting Falter at Illinois. IU Still 'An NCAA Tournament Team'

3 Instant Takeaways from Indiana Basketball's 71-51 Loss at Illinois