Indiana basketball is still sitting in the same preseason neighborhood it’s occupied for a while now, even as ESPN’s latest July top-25 update keeps the Hoosiers just outside the list.
Jeff Borzello slotted IU into his “next five” at No. 29, which lines up with the broader range the Hoosiers have been living in across early preseason projections. In the last round of those way-too-early rankings, Indiana was generally showing up somewhere between No. 20 and No. 30, and that remains the case here.
The bigger picture in the Big Ten is packed at the top. Borzello has Illinois as the conference’s highest-ranked team at No. 3 nationally, pointing to a strong starting five.
Michigan comes in at No. 5, even after dropping three spots without losing any players following coach Dusty May’s departure to the NBA. The rest of the league representation in the update includes No.
9 Michigan State, No. 12 USC, No.
22 Nebraska and No. 26 Purdue.
For Indiana, the scheduling setup looks pretty favorable if those teams end up being the league’s upper crust. The Hoosiers get Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State and USC only at home this season. They also go to Nebraska and will face Purdue both at home and on the road.
IU also has a pair of high-major nonconference games already on the board for 2026-27. Kentucky is ranked No. 17 in the ESPN update, while Syracuse is unranked, and both games will be played in Indianapolis.
There are still eight nonconference games that have not been announced. Indiana also still has one open roster spot, though at this point it does not look like a major addition is coming, if any.
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For Indiana, the stakes go beyond one commitment. The Hoosiers would love to add another cornerstone piece to a class that still has room to grow, especially at running back, where they have only one pledge so far. Recruiting services have treated the race as a close one, with Ohio State holding a slight edge in one industry consensus view, but Indiana remaining right there. Fridays announcement will show whether the Hoosiers can turn that momentum into a signature win. [Read more 🡒]