Admin October 23, 2024
BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball was ranked No. 18 in the preseason USA TODAY Sports coaches poll that was released on Wednesday. The team was ranked No. 17 in the preseason AP Poll released last week.
The Hoosiers fell short of reaching the NCAA tournament last season for the first time during coach Mike Woodson’s tenure with a 19-14 record (10-10 Big Ten), but he landed a series of high-profile signees out of the transfer portal including Arizona center Oumar Ballo (No. 2 ranked player), Stanford transfer Kanaan Carlyle (No. 15) and Washington State transfer Myles Rice (No. 24).
Woodson told fans at Hoosier Hysteria that he thinks the upgraded roster should give IU “an opportunity to win the Big Ten Title.”
The only Big Ten team ranked higher than Indiana in the preseason coaches poll was Purdue. The Boilermakers are ranked No. 13 coming off last year’s Final Four appearance. The other conference teams in the top 25 to start the season are UCLA (No. 22) and Illinois (No. 24).
Indiana’s new-look roster will debut in a preseason exhibition at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday against Tennessee.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
