CBS Sports’ latest look at college basketball spending puts Indiana in rare company - just not quite at the very top.
After contacting more than 100 sources to get a read on what NIL and revenue-sharing money looks like this season, CBS projected that IU is sitting in a “just under $20 million” tier for roster spending ahead of the 2026-27 campaign. The Hoosiers were grouped with UConn, Arkansas and Kansas in Tier 2, while 11 programs were listed above that line at more than $20 million.
Those schools were Texas Tech, Kentucky, Illinois, Texas, Florida, St. John’s, Louisville, Duke, Tennessee, North Carolina and Michigan.
CBS was quick to note that any school-by-school estimate comes with a healthy dose of skepticism, since the real numbers are closely guarded and known with any precision only inside the programs themselves. Still, the outlet’s projection suggests Indiana is operating at a level that should make it one of the bigger spenders in the sport.
That hasn’t always translated into results. CBS put it this way: “Indiana was a big spender ahead of a big second season for Darian DeVries, but despite many a Big Ten foe believing otherwise, IU did not hit the $20 million mark,” the report says.
“Will the investment pay off with a team worthy of Top 25 status more weeks than not this season? The Hoosiers are one of only two teams that comfortably rank in the top 15 in spending but are not ranked in the preseason AP Top 25.
(North Carolina, under a first-year coach, is the other.)”
Within the Big Ten, CBS said the average roster cost is $12.7 million. Michigan and Illinois are the only league programs listed ahead of Indiana, both in the top spending tier above $20 million.
At the other end of the conference, Purdue lands in Tier 6 at $7-9.9 million, alongside Penn State, Northwestern, Rutgers and Iowa.
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