IU basketball is a No. 8 seed in updated ESPN bracketology for the 2027 NCAA tournament

Darian DeVries at IU basketball practice.

College basketball rosters remain a work in progress for the upcoming 2026-27 season, but that hasn’t stopped a longtime bracketologist from updating his projections for the NCAA tournament next March.

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi on Wednesday dropped IU basketball from a No. 7 in his July update to a No. 8 seed.

The Hoosiers played a July exhibition against a Canadian team and then won four games at the FISU America Games in Lima, Peru, late last month.

Indiana added seven players from the transfer portal and added four freshmen for the second roster of the tenure of Darian DeVries, who was hired in the spring of 2025.

The Hoosiers are also returning sophomore Trent Sisley and hope to bring back Sam Alexis, who was recently granted a preliminary injunction allowing him to have a fifth season of eligibility.

The revamped IU basketball roster is headlined by Notre Dame transfer Markus Burton, Villanova transfer Bryce Lindsay, Alabama transfer Aiden Sherrell, SMU transfer Samet Yigitoglu and Duke transfer Darren Harris.

The Hoosiers also signed Georgia Tech transfer Jaeden Mustaf and Maryland Eastern Shore transfer Justin Monden.

In its freshman class, the Hoosiers signed Prince-Alexander Moody, Vaughn Karvala, Trevor Manhertz and Clemens Sokolov.

The program has missed three consecutive NCAA tournaments but is hopeful of ending its March Madness drought next year.

Indiana is one of 12 Big Ten teams in Lunardi’s latest projections, which are updated monthly in the offseason.

The NCAA tournament field is expanding to 76 teams in 2027, with eight additional at-large spots.

The other Big Ten teams included are Illinois (No. 1), Michigan (No. 2), Michigan State (No. 2), Purdue (No. 6), USC (No. 6), Nebraska (No. 6), UCLA (No. 7), Ohio State (No. 8), Wisconsin (No. 9), Iowa (No. 10) and Oregon (No. 10).

Maryland is listed among the first four teams out.

The other projected No. 1 seeds are Arizona, Duke and Florida.

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

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