Purdue, IU, Notre Dame and Ball State prepare for Madness
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Selection Sunday is in the books and the brackets for the 2025 NCAA men's and women's tournaments are ready for tip-off.
Why it matters: March Madness is a big deal nationwide. But no state loves basketball quite like Indiana.
- Indy will also host part of this year's tournament. The Division I Men's Tournament Midwest Regional (Elite Eight/Sweet Sixteen) takes place March 28-30 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Zoom in: Purdue University was the only men's team invited to the big dance in 2025.
- They claimed the No. 4 seed and will open their tournament against No. 13 seed High Point Thursday afternoon.
Yes, but: Notre Dame, Indiana University and Ball State will all represent the Hoosier State in the women's tournament.
- No. 3 seed Notre Dame will play their first game against No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin.
- No. 9 seed IU gets started against No. 8 seed Utah.
- No. 12 seed Ball State opens against No. 5 seed Ole Miss.
The intrigue: The IU men's team missing the NCAA tournament for the second straight year is considered one of the biggest Selection Sunday snubs this year.
- Indiana also has no plans of playing in the NIT, and will instead focus on rebuilding for next year.
What's next: It's time to embrace the madness with Axios Indianapols!
- Year after year, hundreds of thousands of people try their best to craft the perfect bracket.
- Nailing it is nearly impossible. And that's OK, because you don't need perfection to have some fun!
How it works: Sign up for our Axios Indianapolis group on ESPN and enter a bracket for the men's or women's side or both! Once the tournament ends, we'll see who had the most accurate predictions and select a winner from each group.
- The password is "Axios" if it asks for one.
- The men's bracket locks at 12:15pm Thursday, and the women's bracket locks at 11:30am Friday.
The bottom line: This is a low-pressure competition, so just follow your heart when making your picks.
- Once you've submitted your bracket, let us know how you chose your winners. Personal allegiance? Intimidating mascot? Help from AI? Spill your secrets.