The transfer portal closed on April 22, Big Ten rosters are taking shape and early projections for the 2025-26 college basketball season are beginning to surface.
Longtime ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi recently released his first 2026 NCAA tournament projections and included Indiana.
The Hoosiers have undergone a total roster makeover this offseason following a coaching change from Mike Woodson to Darian DeVries.
Indiana currently has 10 transfer portal commitments to go along with class of 2025 signee Trent Sisley. Among the standout additions for IU: Tucker DeVries, Lamar Wilkerson and Reed Bailey.
In Lundari’s first projections, the Hoosiers are a No. 10 seed and one of the “last four” teams in the projected field along with Marquette, Ole Miss and North Carolina State.
IU basketball missed the NCAA tournament the last two seasons under Woodson. Since the 2016-17 season, the Hoosiers have only made two of the previous eight March Madness fields.
Indiana is one of 12 Big Ten teams in these early projections. The other Big Ten teams included: Purdue (No. 1 seed), Michigan (No. 2), Michigan State (No. 4), UCLA (No. 4), USC (No. 4), Ohio State (No. 5), Wisconsin (No. 6), Illinois (No. 7), Oregon (No. 8), Iowa (No. 9) and Maryland (No. 10).
The other projected No. 1 seeds are St. John’s, Duke and Houston.
Two Big Ten teams, Washington and Nebraska, are included in the “first four out.”
Four Big Ten programs had coaching changes this offseason. DeVries took over for Woodson, Ben McCollum replaced Fran McCaffery at Iowa, Buzz Williams is the new Maryland coach after Kevin Willard left for Villanova and Niko Medved is in at Minnesota after Ben Johnson’s dismissal.
Buffalo, Greenville, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Portland, San Diego, St. Louis and Tampa are the first and second round sites for the 2026 NCAA tournament.
The regionals will be held in Chicago, Houston, San Jose and Washington D.C. and the Final Four site is Indianapolis.
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