Yes, it’s still too early to be talking about rankings for the 2023-24 college basketball season.
As we highlighted on Sunday, many teams, including Indiana, are still pursuing high-end talent in a game of roster roulette that never seems to end.
But with the NBA Draft early-entry withdrawal deadline behind us, and most of the high end transfer portal talent off the board, it’s at least no longer absurd to look at the plethora of “way-too-early” power rankings for next season. We’ve done our best to avoid all of that noise to this point, but it makes sense to take a peek at where the national folks believe things stand, even as the dust continues to settle.
Here is a sampling, and it might be a bit of a reality check for some Indiana fans who have basked in the glow of major roster additions such as Kel’el Ware and Mackenzie Mgbako. Needing to replace the production of Trayce Jackson-Davis and three other starters, the consensus right now is IU is not a top-25 team going into next season.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello named his latest top-25 on June 2, and IU is nowhere to be found in that group, or in an additional five teams he says are next in line. From the Big Ten, Borzello likes Purdue (No. 3), Michigan State (4), Wisconsin (26) and Maryland (27) as the top four.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi produced his most recent NCAA Tournament bracketology on June 6, and he has IU in the field as a No. 10 seed. He says the Hoosiers are one of his last four teams to receive a bye in the tournament.
CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish also did not include IU in his top-25 and-one published on June 1. From the Big Ten, he has Purdue at No. 2, followed by Michigan State (5), and Illinois (23).
For NCAA Digital, Andy Katz continued his longstanding tradition of being an IU optimist relative to his peers. He has the Hoosiers at No. 27 in his top-36 published on June 1. In a separate bracketology published on June 2, Katz had IU as a No. 7 seed.
CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein published an updated top-45 on June 7, and IU squeezed in at No. 44. From the Big Ten he likes Purdue at No. 3, followed by Michigan State (4), Illinois (20), Maryland (25), Wisconsin (33), and Rutgers (40).
Jeff Goodman of Stadium posted a new top-25 on June 10 and he did not include Indiana. He was specifically asked why he wasn’t including Indiana to this point in his rankings and said this: “Indiana would be in (the) Top 25 with another shooter. Just worried about floor spacing,” Goodman said. From the Big Ten, Goodman likes Michigan State (No. 3) and Purdue (6) as the only ranked teams.
The Athletic’s Seth Davis put out a new top-25 on June 1, and he also did not include IU. From the Big Ten he likes Purdue at No. 3, followed by Michigan State (4), and Illinois (24).
Advanced analytic site BartTorvik.com has tracked the offseason roster turnover and loaded 2023-24 projections into the system. He has Indiana at No. 29 overall. From the Big Ten, Purdue is No. 1, followed by Michigan State (8).
The Field of 68 also did a “consensus” preseason top-25 on Monday, which did not include Indiana:
🧵: Here is the consensus 2023 college basketball media preseason poll, which includes the top 25s from all the major outlets: ESPN, SI, The Athletic, The Daily, CBS Sports, Heat Check CBB and Stadium.
We spent an hour last week analyzing the poll here: https://t.co/dpowMHThhg pic.twitter.com/uju1gDt9B5
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) June 12, 2023
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