IHSAA Releases 2026 Boys Basketball Regional Sites, Pairings for 116th State Tournament

The IHSAA published its official Boys Basketball Regional Sites and pairings on March 2, 2026, triggering sectionals scheduled Tuesday, March 3 through Saturday, March 7, regionals on Saturday, March 14, semi-states on Saturday, March 21, and the state finals Saturday, March 28 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, 125 S. Pennsylvania Street, Indianapolis. The 116th Annual IHSAA Boys Basketball State Tournament lists the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever as presenting sponsors for the run toward Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Tournament mechanics are spelled out in IHSAA materials: two regional championship games will be assigned to each site and played back-to-back, with winners advancing to the semi-state round. For each regional game the first team drawn is the designated visitor and the second team drawn is the designated home team. Semi-state sites will host four teams from the same class, play two semifinal games and a championship, and the designated home team for semi-state games will be the second team listed in each game. The semi-state random draw will be announced via IHSAAtv.org on Sunday, March 15, 2026, the day after the regional championship games.

Ticketing and broadcast details are concrete: regionals admission is $10, semi-states are $12 per session with children age 5 and younger admitted free, and state finals admission is $20 per session for the two-game sessions at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. All four state championship games will stream exclusively on IHSAAtv.org and the IHSAAtv suite of apps, with pay-per-view pricing set at $20 per game or $25 for all games on platforms including iPhone, Android phone, Roku, Amazon Firestick, AppleTV, and Android TV.

IHSAA regional-championship text in the published pairings includes specific matchups for Regionals 29–32: Central winner, Regional 29 Championship Tri winner vs. Milan winner, Regional 30 Championship Indiana Deaf winner vs. Indianapolis Lutheran winner, Regional 31 Championship Loogootee winner vs. Borden winner, Regional 32 Championship Wood Memorial winner vs. White River Valley winner. The IHSAA document also lists northern regional hosts in a truncated line reading, Northern Regional Hosts Frankfort, Huntington North, Lapel, Logansport, Michigan City, New Castle, North Judson-San, indicating the full host list should be confirmed from the complete IHSAA bracket.

Local TV reporting provides additional sectional pairings and color, with WTWO WAWV TV offering bracket reads that should be cross-checked for transcription artifacts. Examples from that video include, Let’s start with 1A sectional 43 at Fountain Central. North Vermillion will face Fountain Central in round one and the Riverton Park Panthers draw Attica, and Up next, Exceptional 61, a big one for the Wab Bash Valley over at WRV. Game one features the host Wolverines taking on Cloverdale, followed by Shakamak and Lighthouse Christian in game two. The video transcription contains inconsistent spellings in some bracket names and the IHSAA release recommends verifying exact school names.

StatelineSportsNetwork archival context underscores long-term stakes: Lafayette Jefferson holds the record for most consecutive sectional championships at 29 from 1944-72, and the Top 10 all-time sectional championship list names Kokomo with 77 and Marion and Vincennes Lincoln with 71 apiece. StatelineSportsNetwork also provided class lists verbatim, including 2A schools such as 21st Century, Centerville, Forest Park, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers and others, and 1A schools such as Christian Academy of Indiana, Clay City, Clinton Prairie and Indianapolis Lutheran.

The clock now runs to March 14 regionals and the March 15 IHSAAtv.org semi-state draw; the winners of the north semi-states will be the designated home teams at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the state finals on March 28, setting up the final pathway to four state championship games and the IHSAAtv pay-per-view window.