A look at where IU basketball is projected to finish in the Big Ten for the 2025-26 season

IU basketball guard Lamar Wilkerson makes a pass.

We’re less than two weeks from the start of the 2025-26 college basketball season and IU basketball will tip off a new era under Darian DeVries.

The Hoosiers will wrap up exhibition play on Sunday afternoon against Baylor at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. They will begin regular-season play on Wednesday, November 5, against Alabama A&M at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

With an entirely new roster, there is a wide range of projections for IU’s Big Ten finish this winter. We’ve gathered every projection we could find for a comprehensive preseason look, which is available below:

The Big Ten preseason media poll

A panel of 28 media members who cover the Big Ten picked the Hoosiers to finish 10th in the league, just behind Ohio State. IU was picked as high as 4th and as low as 16th by the voting panel.

Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook

The most comprehensive preseason yearbook available, Blue Ribbon was slightly higher on the Hoosiers. IU was picked to finish 9th by Blue Ribbon.

Lindy’s Sports College Basketball Preview

The last preview magazine still on newsstands – Athlon Sports and Street and Smith’s no longer publish a college hoops preseason magazine – Lindy’s fell right in line with most of the other projections. In its annual magazine, published in early September, the Hoosiers were picked 10th in the Big Ten.

“It’s not fair to expect Indiana to contend for a Big Ten title with a new squad,” Lindy’s wrote. “But there’s enough skill, shooting and experience to expect an upper-division finish and an NCAA tournament berth.”

The Athletic

The Athletic produced one of the more comprehensive Big Ten previews available and picked the Hoosiers to finish 8th.

Here’s what C.J. Moore wrote about IU: “The Hoosiers spent in the portal and landed a class that has produced at the mid-major level. It’s just hard to say how this group is going to translate to the high-major level. DeVries has been a good evaluator of talent in his time as a head coach. What’s also promising is his son is healthy and West Virginia performed like a Top 25 team in the eight games he played a year ago. If Lamar Wilkerson can be Javon Small-level good, the rest of the core on paper is more talented than what DeVries had in Morgantown.”

CBSSports.com

Isaac Trotter wrote the Big Ten preview over at CBSSports.com and picked the Hoosiers to finish 10th in the league.

“Indiana’s combination of skill and shooting jumps off the tape,” Trotter wrote. “Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson are professional net-shredders, and toolsy 6-10 big man Reed Bailey has the handle, vision and slippery drives that draw comparisons to former Michigan star Danny Wolf. Indiana is primed to take a ton of treys in 2025-26, which will feel like paradise after four years of finishing last or second-to-last in the Big Ten in 3-point rate under Mike Woodson.”

Here’s how the rest of the CBSSports.com staff ranked the Hoosiers:

Gary Parrish: 14th
Matt Norlander: 10th
Kyle Boone: 11th
David Cobb: 10th
Cameron Salerno: 5th

Basket Under Review

The Basket Under Review preview, written by the staff of the 3-Man Weave, picked IU to finish 6th in the Big Ten.

Computer rankings

EvanMiya.com and KenPom.com have IU 11th in the Big Ten while BartTorvik.com has the Hoosiers as the 12th best Big Ten team entering the season.

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

See More: Media, 2025-26 Big Ten preview