Hours before the official announcement, Indiana had an 81% chance of making the tournament, according to BracketMatrix. Mike Woodson’s Hoosiers were projected to secure a spot in 89 of the 110 bracket predictions. Yet, doubts lingered—especially with IU competing against San Diego State, Texas, Vanderbilt, and North Carolina for the last few at-large bids. Turns out the bracketologists got it wrong after all.

When the dust settled, Indiana wasn’t on the list. North Carolina grabbed the last at-large spot, leaving them as the second team out after West Virginia. It was indeed a stinging reality for the coach, who announced his retirement on Feb 7, which some had already been calling a firing situation instead. Furthermore, the team had entered the season with lofty expectations as a top-25 ranked team, boasting a lucrative NIL deal worth $5 million.

So, the Hoosiers, once a proud blue-blood program with five national titles, have now missed the tournament for the second straight year and the seventh time in the last nine seasons. But this time, it felt more painful since the Woodson era is now officially over. You can already imagine the sentiment that must be echoing across Bloomington after Selection Sunday. To sum it up, “Stick a fork in it — Indiana basketball is done.”

After declining an NIT invitation after the 2024 season, Indiana’s postseason prospects remained uncertain on Sunday. However, any lingering hopes of a potential NIT or College Basketball Crown berth were swiftly extinguished by Jeff Rabjohns of (link unavailable), delivering the final blow to those clinging to a shred of optimism. He wrote on X, “Indiana was not selected for the 2025 NCAA Tournament. IU has no plans to play in the NIT or The Crown. IU’s season has concluded”.

Indiana basketball’s future seems to be shrouded in uncertainty. They have already begun to search for Woodson’s replacement. Meanwhile, the team’s roster is poised for significant changes, as Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal, Oumar Ballo, and Luke Goode all participated in Senior Day festivities. These four accounted for nearly half of Indiana’s scoring output, averaging a collective 34.2 points per game. So, the team will soon look a lot different soon.

Woodson ends his four-year tenure with an 82-53 record (.607), including a 41-39 mark in Big Ten play. His best season to date remains 2023, when the Hoosiers finished 23-12. However, his teams never really cracked through, losing in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and 2023 before missing it entirely in 2024 and 2025.

Coach “Bigfoot” Woodson’s departure closes the book on a tenure that never quite delivered — and the fanbase’s reaction says it all.

Fanbase emotions hit rock bottom as Mike Woodson’s exit marks the end of Indiana’s lost season

“Sadly, who cares,” one fan posted. “Put garbage to the curb by morning.” The sting of another lost season, with no postseason in sight, seemed to sap whatever energy was left in the fanbase.

The numbers tell a familiar, depressing story. Indiana went 4-13 in Quad 1 games — the matchups that separate contenders from pretenders — despite holding a respectable 5-0 record in Quad 2. Their offensive rating (113.6) ranked 68th nationally, and their defensive rating (97.4) sat at 38th — decent on paper, but meaningless when it counted. Their strength of schedule (+13.27, 28th in the nation) should have built tournament credibility, but the Hoosiers never capitalized when the spotlight was brightest.

But it wasn’t just the losing — it was how they lost. Indiana crumbled in crunch time, never finding rhythm or identity on either end of the floor. The breaking point came in the Big Ten Tournament opener against Oregon — a 72-59 collapse that perfectly reflected Indiana’s lack of urgency when it mattered most. The score was ugly, but the indifference that followed was even uglier.

Another fan took aim at North Carolina’s athletic director Bubba Cunnigham: “Is anyone else watching this piece of shit AD from NC?”

The frustration wasn’t baseless. North Carolina had been teetering on the NCAA Tournament bubble after falling to Duke in the ACC semifinal — a loss that seemed to seal their fate. Yet somehow, the Tar Heels slid in as an 11 seed in the South region — the very last at-large team to make the cut. And the vote that saved them? It came from the NCAA tournament selection committee — chaired by none other than North Carolina’s own Bubba Cunningham.

Another fan didn’t hold back, posting, “They never had a chance seeing that @BubbaUNC was on the selection committee!” The implication was clear — the deck was stacked.

Although Bubba Cunningham insisted he followed protocol, his explanation didn’t exactly calm the storm. He told CBS he was “not in the room” when North Carolina’s name came up, but when Seth Davis pressed him about UNC’s inclusion, Cunningham tossed the ball away like it was radioactive. “I’m gonna defer that to Keith,” he said. “All of the policies and procedures were followed.” The optics, though, were impossible to ignore — UNC, a bubble team that faltered in the ACC semifinals, slid in as the last at-large bid. Coincidence? Indiana fans aren’t buying it.

The emotional toll of years of mediocrity was evident in another comment: “I hope one day I can regain my passion for IU Basketball. It died a slow death over the last decade.” Indiana’s basketball identity, once a source of pride and dominance, has become synonymous with underachievement.

Woodson’s tenure wasn’t a total disaster, but it never quite lived up to expectations. His first two years showed promise, with tournament appearances in 2022 and 2023 — including a Round of 64 win over Kent State in 2023. But the last two years exposed the program’s inability to win high-stakes games.

Perhaps the harshest criticism came from a fan who pointed to the program’s lack of discipline and consistency: “Indiana basketball has become an embarrassment over the past four years. Between the poor play, the lack of discipline, and the social media adolescent shenanigans, they don’t deserve to get any better as a unit with extended play.” The frustration is warranted — Indiana entered the season ranked No. 17 in the AP Poll but stumbled to a 19-13 finish, including a first-round exit in the Big Ten Tournament at the hands of Oregon.

Indiana now faces a crucial offseason. Athletic Director Scott Dolson has enlisted TurnkeyZRG search firm to find Woodson’s replacement — a decision that could define the program’s future for years to come. The next coach will inherit a team that finished ninth in the Big Ten and hasn’t advanced past the Round of 32 since 2016.

Woodson’s era wasn’t a complete failure — but it wasn’t a success, either. He steadied the ship after Archie Miller’s disastrous tenure, but he never got Indiana back to where it belongs. The Hoosiers may eventually rise again — but for now, the passion that once fueled Assembly Hall has faded to a whisper.