Indiana Basketball Misses NCAA Tournament for 3rd Straight Year

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana basketball didn't make the NCAA Tournament's 68-team field, which was revealed Sunday night on CBS. IU was the fourth team excluded from the tournament, finishing only behind Oklahoma, Auburn and San Diego State.

The Hoosiers ended their first season under coach Darian DeVries with an 18-14 record, including 9-12 in Big Ten play, and as losers of six of their final seven games. They won't accept a bid to any other postseason event.

Indiana has now missed the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season and for the eighth time in the past 10 years.

DeVries felt the Hoosiers, who held Quad 1 wins over Purdue, UCLA and Wisconsin, had a resume worthy of consideration for the NCAA Tournament. But after winning just one game after Feb. 9 and dropping a pair of late-season games to Northwestern, Indiana found itself on the outside looking in.

"I think the biggest thing we've talked about, when you're a bubble team, we've had a lot of Quad 1 games," DeVries said. "I think the biggest thing for us is a lot of those Quad 1 games were against the top 10, 12 teams in the country. I think we had seven or eight of those losses were Quad 1 were against the top 12 teams in the country.

"That's a challenging schedule. If you put other bubble teams in the same situations, we've been able to be really competitive despite that challenging schedule. Then you have wins against Purdue and UCLA and Wisconsin and some of our Quad 2 wins.

"I certainly think there's a case there. Whether it ends up being enough, we'll see. That's something that I think this team, they've gone through it this year. They've continued to fight and battle and came away with some good wins along the way to back that up."

No matter Indiana's postseason case, the Hoosiers fell short of the mark, and a season once destined for March Madness ultimately came to a close with no inclusion in the Big Dance.

Here's the full 68-team field.

EAST REGION

GREENVILLE, South Carolina
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 Siena
No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 9 TCU

SAN DIEGO, California
No. 5 St. John's vs No. 12 Northern Iowa
No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 13 Cal Baptist

BUFFALO, New York:
No. 6 Louisville vs. No. 11 South Florida
No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 14 North Dakota State

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania:
No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 UCF
No. 2 UConn vs. No. 15 Furman

WEST REGION

SAN DIEGO, California
No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 16 LIU
No. 8 Villanova vs. No. 9 Utah State

PORTLAND, Oregon
No. 5 Wisconsin vs. No. 12 High Point
No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 13 Hawaii
No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 Texas/North Carolina State
No. 3 Gonzaga vs. No. 14 Kennesaw State

ST. LOUIS, Missouri
No. 7 Miami (Fla.) vs No. 10 Missouri
No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 15 Queens

MIDWEST REGION

BUFFALO, New York
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 16 UMBC/Howard
No. 8 Georgia vs. No. 9 Saint Louis

TAMPA, Florida
No. 5 Texas Tech vs. No. 12 Akron
No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 13 Hofstra

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania
No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 11 Miami (Ohio)/SMU
No. 3 Virginia vs. No. 14 Wright State

ST. LOUIS, Missouri
No. 7 Kentucky vs. No. 10 Santa Clara
No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 15 Tennessee State

SOUTH REGION

TAMPA, Florida
No. 1 Florida vs. No. 16 Prairie View A&M/Lehigh
No. 8 Clemson vs. No. 9 Iowa

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma
No. 5 Vanderbilt vs. No. 12 McNeese State
No. 4 Nebraska vs. No. 13 Troy

GREENVILLE, South Carolina
No. 6 North Carolina vs. No. 11 VCU
No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 14 Penn

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma
No. 7 Saint Mary's vs. No. 10 Texas A&M
No. 2 Houston vs. No. 15 Idaho