The Big Ten Conference has chosen Indianapolis to host a handful of upcoming basketball tournaments starting in 2025.
The Chicago-based conference said Wednesday that Indianapolis was selected for both the men’s and women’s Big Ten hoops tournaments in 2025, as well as the women’s tournament in 2026 and the men’s tournament in 2027. All four events will be held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The 2025 women’s tournament is slated for March 5-9, with the 2025 men’s tournament from March 12-16.
The 2026 women’s tournament is slated for March 4-8, and the 2027 men’s tournament is scheduled from March 10-14.
“We look forward to partnering with the city of Indianapolis as they host the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments,” Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti said in written remarks. “Indianapolis will be an exciting postseason opportunity for our student-athletes, coaches, and fans, both locally and from across the country.”
The announcement from the Big Ten comes just over a week after it selected Indianapolis to host the football championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium through 2028.
Indianapolis has hosted the Big Ten’s men’s basketball tournament 13 times and the women’s tournament 25 times over the past 30 years, including both events during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons. The city hosted the men’s tournament every year from 2015 to 2022, before the conference took the event to Chicago and Minneapolis in the past two seasons, respectively.
Indianapolis didn’t put forth bids for the 2023 or 2024 basketball tournaments due to scheduling challenges related to other events on the city’s calendar.
“We are thrilled with the conference’s decision to have the Big Ten Women’s and Men’s Basketball Tournaments return to Indianapolis,” Indiana Sports Corp. President Patrick Talty said in a statement. “Together, with our partners throughout the community, we will continue the storied tradition of Big Ten basketball while working to further enhance the tournament experience for the member institutions, student-athletes, coaches, and fans.”
Beginning in 2025, the tournaments will expand from 14 to 15 qualifying teams. The top four seeds will maintain a double bye while seeds 5-9 will receive a single bye. The conference is growing to 18 teams with the additions of the University of Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington.
Las Vegas will host the women’s tourney in 2027 and the men’s tourney in 2028.
The 2026 men’s tourney will be played in Chicago, and the 2028 women’s tourney is scheduled for Detroit.
This story is by Mickey Shuey.
