DeVries shared his thoughts on non-conference scheduling during his introductory press conference.
Indiana men’s basketball head coach Darian DeVries was asked about his approach to non-conference scheduling during his introductory press conference on Wednesday at Assembly Hall.
Swaths of the fanbase have been vocal about the need for a more quality non-conference slate after this past season’s schedule fell flat when the Hoosiers collapsed against Louisville and Gonzaga in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The program has hosted Kansas and North Carolina in recent years while playing games against Arizona in Las Vegas, Auburn in Atlanta, UConn in New York City and the Jayhawks in Lawrence.
In his answer, DeVries noted that the upcoming 2025-26 schedule already contains the likes of Kentucky at Rupp Arena and Marquette at the United Center in Chicago. He said he’d like to add more high-quality games to his first season’s slate and he’d like to be sure to challenge his group ahead of the 20-game Big Ten slate.
“We want to challenge ourselves in the best way possible to make sure we’ve got some very meaningful non-conference games,” DeVries said.
The NCAA Tournament selection committee generally looks favorably upon strong scheduling and play in the non-conference slate. Those wins can boost a team’s resume early and teams often get credit for scheduling tough even if they don’t necessarily win those games.
With a brand as substantial as Indiana, it probably won’t be hard to get quality competition on the schedule, as the previous few seasons have proven.