A lot of moving parts remain, but there are some early clues Indiana basketball’s 2026 roster rebuild is positioning the Hoosiers as a nationally relevant team for the 2026-27 season.
In his latest update to the “Rothstein 45,” well known national college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein pegged Indiana as the No. 15 team for the 2026-27 season.
Rothstein updates his offseason rankings daily as transfer portal and NBA Draft decisions impact the teams. His update today comes following IU’s addition of Alabama transfer big man Aiden Sherrell, and Villanova guard Bryce Lindsay.
Rothstein has typically been an IU basketball skeptic, and often his judgment has proven to be justified. He never ranked Indiana among the top-45 prior to the 2025-26 season.
IU head coach Darian DeVries had the Hoosiers as high as No. 22 in the AP Poll after a 7-0 start to his first season in Bloomington. But in the end, IU missed the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers have not played in March Madness since 2023, and they haven’t reached the Sweet 16 since 2016.
Rothstein still has three Big Ten teams ahead of Indiana at this time — No. 1 Michigan, No. 3 Illinois, and No. 5 Michigan State.
Behind the Hoosiers from the league, he has No. 16 USC, No. 20 Purdue, No. 21 Ohio State, No. 22 UCLA, No. 24 Nebraska, No. 29 Wisconsin, and No. 34 Iowa. So that’s 11 of the 18 teams ranked in the top-34, as the league projects to be another gauntlet.
Rothstein projects the following starting lineup for the Hoosiers:
Projected Starting 5:
G Markus Burton
G Bryce Lindsay
G Darren Harris
F Aiden Sherrell
C Samet Yigitolu
Right now Indiana is seven deep in terms of players with college basketball experience. Jaeden Mustaf and Trent Sisley join Rothstein’s starting five.
Obviously rosters are still very fluid for a while.
The transfer portal doesn’t close until April 21, and NBA Draft decisions don’t have to be made until May 27.
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