The 2026–27 Horizon League men's basketball season will begin with practices in September 2026 and end with the 2027 Horizon League men's basketball tournament in March 2027. This is the 47th season for Horizon League men's basketball, and the first with 12 teams since the 2021–22 season, as Northern Illinois rejoined the conference after departing in 1997.
Head coaches Coaching changes
On March 7, 2026, prior to joining the Horizon League, Northern Illinois fired head coach Rashon Burno following five seasons and a combined 39–85. On March 17, the Huskies hired Division II Northern Michigan head coach Matt Majkrzak to replace Burno.
Coaches Team Head coach Previous job Season Overallrecord Horizonrecord NCAATournaments Cleveland State Rob Summers Missouri (asst.) 2nd 0 Detroit Mercy Mark Montgomery Michigan State (asst.) 3rd 0 Green Bay Doug Gottlieb none 3rd 0 IU Indy Ben Howlett West Liberty 2nd 0 Milwaukee Bart Lundy Queens 5th 0 Northern Illinois Matt Majkrzak Northern Michigan 1st 0 Northern Kentucky Darrin Horn Texas (asst.) 8th 2 Oakland Greg Kampe Toledo (asst.) 43rd 1 Purdue Fort Wayne Jon Coffman IPFW (asst.) 13th 0 Robert Morris Andrew Toole Robert Morris (asst.) 17th 3 Wright State Clint Sargent Wright State (asst.) 3rd 1 Youngstown State Ethan Faulkner Youngstown State (asst.) 3rd 0 Notes:
Season number includes 2026–27 season. Records are prior to 2026–27 season.
Regular season
Early-season tournaments On June 24, 2026, the NCAA voted to increase the regular-season game limit from 31 to 32 and eliminate the requirement for teams to participate in multiple-team events (MTEs) or early-season tournaments. The following table summarizes the MTEs or early-season tournaments in which teams from the Horizon League will participate.
+TeamTournamentLocationDatesFinishCleveland StateAlabama A&M MTENormal, ALNovember 13–15Detroit MercyCancún ChallengeCancún, MexicoNovember 24–25Northern KentuckyNorthern Kentucky MTEHighland Heights, KYNovember 23–25Wright StateESPN Events InvitationalLake Buena Vista, FLNovember 23–27
Postseason Horizon League tournament
The conference tournament will be played in March 2027, with the championship being played on March 9.
The tournament will adopt a traditional 12-team bracket after five seasons with 11 teams in the conference. After seven years at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis, the final three rounds will be played the Riverview Health Arena at Innovation Mile in Noblesville, Indiana, as the first year of a five-year deal with the city of Noblesville, Hamilton County Sports Authority, and REV Entertainment.
Teams are seeded by conference record, with ties broken by record between the tied teams followed by record against the regular-season champion, if necessary.
References