Despite having one of the most historically rich basketball programs, the Indiana Hoosiers athletic department’s overall success may not be as up to par as some think.
Yahoo Sports recently released a ranking on every Power Five Conference School and how they ranked against each other in terms of athletic success. With 65 total member schools among the Power Five conferences, some schools stood out more than others due to their recent athletic program’s success.
The top spot on the list belongs to Stanford, which represents the Pac-12 conference and with national champions in Men’s golf and gymnastics, and Women’s volleyball, swimming, tennis, water polo, Stanford rightfully claims the most athletic success among Power Five conferences.
The top Big Ten team on the list belonged to Ohio State, which came in at No. 5 in the rankings. However, according to Yahoo Sports, their program’s success trajectory is heading downwards, following two straight years without a national championship.
The Hoosiers come in ranked at No. 43 with Men’s swimming and soccer listed as the school’s best sport programs. The Indiana Men’s Swimming Team went 8-0 in their regular season competition this past season and the Men’s Soccer team advanced to the NCAA Final Four for the second year in a row.
Overall Indiana, a school that is best known for their basketball program, hasn’t won a Men’s basketball National Championship since 1987, and has missed the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons.
Indiana Hoosiers rival, the Purdue Boilermakers, make the list right behind IU ranked at No. 48 with Men’s Basketball as their best sport. However, their lack of success in other sports have brought their strength in the rankings down.
The lowest rated Big Ten school listed in the rankings was Rutgers, whose wrestling team was listed as their best sport after winning two-thirds of their competitions. Yahoo Sports sees the Scarlet Knight’s athletic success to continue to trend upwards in the near future though.
Taking last place in the rankings was the Pittsburgh Panthers. The ACC school has been on the decline athletically the last three years, leading up to it being the newly appointed worst Power Five School. However, their women’s volleyball team put up an impressive 30-2 record on the season.
Indiana’s ranking may be a shock to some, but with the lack of success from their big time sports in recent years, you can see why the ranking is where it is.