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USA Today have released their first poll for the upcoming season today and Indiana just cracked the top 25. The Hoosiers come in at #24 overall just ahead of Virginia and right behind UCLA. Indiana is the fifth and final team in the Big Ten to find their way into the pre-season poll. Michigan State leads the conference at #2. Followed by Michigan (#9), Ohio State (#10) and Wisconsin (#21). Also receiving votes for the poll were Iowa (#29 overall) and Illinois (#45).
Indiana came into last season ranked #1 and finished the season having never fallen out of the top 8 in any poll. Despite some letdowns at the end of the season and loss of four 1,000 point scorers, the Hoosiers are still chocked full of young talent. The only uncertainty is if there is enough veteran leadership to get them to all play together. Indiana is still going to be able to out talent a lot of people, but we just don't know how they'll respond when the going gets tough. Until we get some sort of sample size, #24 seems fair.
1 |
Kentucky |
2 | Michigan State |
3 | Louisville |
4 | Duke |
5 | Arizona |
6 | Kansas |
7 | Syracuse |
8 | Florida |
9 | Michigan |
10 | Ohio State |
11 | North Carolina |
12 | Oklahoma State |
13 | Memphis |
14 | Gonzaga |
15 | Virginia Commonwealth |
16 | Wichita State |
17 | Marquette |
18 | Oregon |
19 | Connecticut |
20 | New Mexico |
21 | Wisconsin |
22 | Notre Dame |
23 | UCLA |
24 | Indiana |
25 | Virginia |