IU basketball tips off the 2026-27 season on Monday against Eastern Illinois at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Ahead of the start of the season, here’s a comprehensive look at where the Hoosiers are projected to finish in every preseason poll or computer rating we were able to find:
Official “unofficial” media poll
The annual media poll of beat writers from across the conference was released earlier this month.
Indiana was picked to finish 9th in the 18-team league.
Blue Ribbon Yearbook
One of the final preseason yearbooks still standing and the most comprehensive preview available each year, Blue Ribbon is among the publications bullish on IU entering the season.
The Hoosiers were picked to finish 7th in the projection released in mid-September.
Lindy’s Sports
The only remaining preseason college basketball preview magazines on newsstands each fall, Lindy’s is among the first outlets to publish projections each year. With all the roster changes and uncertainty, that might not help in putting together an accurate forecast.
Like Blue Ribbon, Lindy’s projects a 7th-place finish for the Hoosiers in the Big Ten.
CBSSports.com
Count Isaac Trotter, like the panel of Big Ten writers, as skeptical of the Hoosiers entering the season.
The CBS scribe published his projections for the league in early October and picked IU to finish 9th.
Basket Under Review – 3Man Weave
Another less-than-bullish outlook on the Hoosiers comes from the 3Man Weave trio, who write for Basket Under Review.
The Weave projects IU to finish 10th, among the Hoosiers’ lowest preseason projections.
ESPN.com
Myron Medcalf, a longtime ESPN writer, has covered the conference for quite a while. His projection, released earlier than most referenced here, gave IU a ceiling of a round-of-32 NCAA tournament appearance.
Medcalf’s preseason Big Ten projections have IU finishing 10th in the league.
KenPom.com
The most referenced computer model in the sport is KenPom.com. The NCAA tournament selection committee uses Pomeroy’s ratings each spring.
Indiana is picked to finish 12th in the Big Ten by Pomeroy.
Bart Torvik
Torvik, a Wisconsin fan and an attorney, has also built a strong following among those who value analytics. Like Pomeroy, Torvik’s “T-Rank” is used by the NCAA tournament selection committee.
Indiana is currently slated to finish 7th in the league, according to “T-Rank.”
Evan Miya
Miya has built a strong following over the years with his rankings and analytics at EvanMiya.com.
His preseason projection for the Hoosiers doesn’t differ much from KenPom: IU is projected No. 45 nationally and 11th in the Big Ten (Pom has IU 47th and 12th, respectively).
National rankings
In addition to these Big Ten projections, here are the preseason national rankings for the Hoosiers:
Field of 68 – No. 24
Sports Illustrated – No. 25
CBSSports.com (Parrish) – No. 26
Bart Torvik – No. 26
Jon Rothstein – No. 31
CJH Analytics – No. 31
Preseason coaches poll – No. 33
CBSSports.com (Norlander) – No. 36
Preseason AP poll – No. 36
Andy Katz – No. 37
EvanMiya.com – No. 45
KenPom.com – No. 47
