Indiana is number one in absurdly early preseason top 25.

It's crazy early for such a thing, Christian Watford and/or Cody Zeller could decide to leave for the NBA, and if Kentucky adds some additional five star recruits it wouldn't at all be a surprise to see UK at the top again. All that said, as of today, ESPN's Andy Katz says that Indiana is the preseason number one. Regardless of whether that is where the Hoosiers stand in October, the meteoric rise of this program seems set to continue, and it is obvious that the program will be dealing with sky-high expectations for the first time in Tom Crean's tenure.

Other notes:

Katz suggests that the Big Ten will be a load again this year. He ranks Ohio State at 5, Michigan State at 7, and Michigan at 8. Yep, that's four Big Ten teams in his top 8. Considering that Kentucky is #4, Notre Dame is #17, and Wisconsin is #21, then that means IU will play at least nine games against this preseason top 25 (and I'm assuming that either Duke or North Carolina will be IU's Big Ten-ACC Challenge opponent).

It's a long time until Midnight Madness, but it's still fun to see the Hoosiers at number one.