The University of Indiana (IU) has been forced to abandon its hopes of securing a tournament bid after a disappointing season, despite a series of late regular-season wins over Northwestern and Ohio State. The NCAA has changed the timing of the portal recruiting process to reduce player and coach distractions during the championship, but the days the portal is open for business were reduced by 50 percent from 30 days to 15 following the change. This change opens a new can of worms as agents will be reaching out to teams about scholarship money and NIL room for players before the portal window opens on January 2. The upcoming portal period will determine whether Indiana will prefer portal experience or develop talent fresh out of high school.