Indiana basketball ranked No. 14 in Preseason Coaches Poll

More than a week after the AP Top 25 was released, USAToday released the Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll with Indiana basketball receiving 334 votes and ranking at number 14 overall.

The Hoosiers earned their first spot in the USAToday Coaches Preseason Poll for the first time since being ranked No. 12 in 2016-17.

The USAToday releases this coaches poll with 32 votes from 32 Division I basketball coaches from across the nation. Some significant names that appeared on that list to me were Matt Painter (Purdue), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Scott Drew (Baylor), and Randy Bennett (Saint Mary’s). Now not to speculate or anything, but my guess is that the Hoosiers may be a rank or two higher if it weren’t for a certain Boilermakers head coach on this board.

Indiana basketball is the highest-ranked Big Ten team appearing in the Coaches Poll this preseason, as Michigan (No. 22) and Illinois (No. 23) are the only other Big Ten teams also in the Top 25. The rest of the significant Big Ten teams for this upcoming season showed in the ‘receiving votes’ category for this preseason poll; Purdue (No. 26), Michigan State (No. 30), Iowa (No. 31), Wisconsin (No. 38), Ohio State (No. 41), and Rutgers (No. 45).

Besides Big Ten teams, the opponents that the Hoosiers will be taking on this season also showed themselves in this preseason poll. Indiana basketball has a very tough non-conference schedule that includes No. 1 North Carolina (Nov. 30), No. 5 Kansas (Dec. 17), and No. 13 Arizona (Dec. 10), along with No. 44 Xavier (Nov. 18).

Preseason rankings and accolades only mean so much as we approach the season. It’s more so to get alumni and college basketball fans excited for the upcoming season. Can Indiana basketball find a way to finish in the top 10 of the rankings at the end of the season for the first time since 2015-16?