“INSIDE THE HALL” is a website/publication/podcast dedicated to sharing information with the worldwide community of fans of Indiana University athletics. This time of year you’ll find a lot of information about the always-anticipated college basketball season. Recruiting information, individual bios about new faces, and predictions for the upcoming 2025-‘26 season. “Inside” requires a subscription to get the real inside stuff, but sometimes they share articles online. One such article appeared online September 11, 2025, when Lindy Sports published their annual magazine with predictions for the ‘25-‘26 college basketball season. If you read “Inside the Hall” you probably already know about Lindy’s outlook for IU basketball this winter.
Lindy Sports predicts IU’s basketball team, a complete rebuild, will not find itself anywhere near the top 25 Division I teams, and not even in the top 40. Their preseason no. 1 is Houston, last year’s runner-up to Florida. Seven BiG teams are in the top 25–Purdue no. 2, Michigan no. 4, UCLA no. 16, Oregon no. 17, Illinois no. 23, and Michigan State no. 25. Rounding out the top 40 are Iowa at 31, Wisconsin 33, and Ohio State at 38.
Lindy’s picked Purdue to win the BiG and predicted Indiana will finish tenth. IU will finish the conference season ahead of Washington, Maryland, USC, Nebraska, Northwestern, Minnesota, Rutgers, and Penn State. Indiana is an entire rebuild and as such will be short on the talent needed to finish in the upper tier of the conference. They predict IU will be selected to play in the NCAA tournament, but don’t expect them to advance past the first round. “It’s not fair to expect Indiana to contend for a BiG title with an all new squad, but there’s enough skill, shooting and experience to expect an upper division finish and an NCAA berth.”
The only Indiana player Lindy’s says will contend for All-BiG honors is the coaches son, Tucker DeVries. He has the skill to garner enough attention to contend for BiG honors. Two other players, Lamar Wilkerson and Tayton Conerway should get nods for the top 3-point scorer and defensive player of the year, respectively.
Dr. G’s Opinion: The situation for IU basketball is the same as it was the first year of Tom Crean’s coaching tenure (2008). He had all new players and little talent. His record that year was an abysmal 6-25. I think, however, the transfer portal has made it easier to assemble a team so despite having all new players, the likelihood of them succeeding is better than 2008. Tenth in the BiG? NCAA berth? Are you kidding? Those are both pipe dreams that won’t happen unless Darian DeVries is the second coming of Bob Knight or John Wooden. NOT! In Tom Crean’s first year, tenth in the BiG would have been last place. I don’t see us finishing ahead of USC, Maryland, Penn State, or Northwestern like Lindy’s predicts. I hope we do, but …… I think this will be a tough season that will require a lot of patience from IU fans. Patience is not one of my strong points, so I fear I will be in a bad mood often. Watching IU lose is always difficult because I know we can do better. Everything this year (players, coaches) is unknown. We just have to hope they exceed expectations. And as a good friend stated recently, maybe DeVries will have the same coaching moxie that Curt Cignetti has. Let’s hope so!
