Indiana has missed the NCAA Tournament in eight of the last 10 years, and Hoosier fans are hungrier than ever for a March Madness run. Heading into his second season at the helm of the Indiana basketball program, Darian DeVries is looking to turn things around in a major way.
The offseason has garnered plenty of hype for Indiana, but that's nothing we haven't seen before. A top-ranked portal class is all fine and dandy on paper, but what truly matters is what happens on the hardwood.
While expectations for Year 2 of the DeVries era are high, AP Poll voters aren't sold on the Hoosiers being one of the best 25 programs in the country entering the new season.
Indiana basketball not ranked in preseason AP Poll
The preseason AP Top-25 Poll for men's college basketball was released on Monday afternoon, and the Hoosiers were nowhere to be found. It's not necessarily surprising, as a 9-11 Big Ten record last year to go along with a completely re-vamped roster leaves the Hoosiers with plenty of unknowns heading into the 2026-27 campaign.
However, Indiana was among the teams in the "others receiving votes" category, garnering 8 total votes. Thus, the Hoosiers are essentially listed in the No. 36 spot.
A total of five Big Ten teams are featured in the Top-25 preseason poll: No. 3 Illinois, No. 6 Michigan State, No. 16 Michigan, No. 21 USC, and No. 22 UCLA. Furthermore, five more teams received votes: Nebraska (70), Purdue (53), Ohio State (39), Iowa (12), and Indiana (8).
The AP voters know Indiana's hype, but they sent a clear message by leaving the Hoosiers out of the preseason Top-25: Prove it. Coming off a disappointing first season under DeVries, the voters are going to make Indiana show what it's made of before giving the Cream and Crimson a Top-25 ranking.
Indiana has the pieces in place to turn things around in 2026-27
In an expanded 76-team NCAA Tournament field, qualifying for March Madness is essential for DeVries this season. After all of the resources that the Hoosiers put into the roster this offseason, DeVries won't do himself any favors by missing out on the NCAA Tournament again.
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Alabama transfer Aiden Sherrell and SMU transfer Samet Yigitoglu give the Hoosiers a strong 1-2 combination in the frontcourt. Sherrell is a 6'11" power forward with extreme athleticism, while Yigitoglu is a true center with a lengthy 7'2" frame. They should help the Hoosiers be a much more physical and rebound-focused team.
In the backcourt, Notre Dame transfer Markus Burton, Duke transfer Darren Harris, Villanova transfer Bryce Lindsay, and Georgia Tech transfer Jaeden Mustaf give Indiana plenty of scoring depth. All four of those players have multiple years of high-major experience under their belts.
Add in returners Trent Sisley and Sam Alexis, as well as a promising freshmen group consisting of Prince-Alexander Moody, Trevor Manhertz, and Vaughn Karvala, and Indiana's roster seems to be in a much better spot than it was at this point last offseason. But now it's on DeVries and his coaching staff to put it all together.
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