24. Indiana (5-0)
Basketball history at Indiana has seemingly been a long and winding road filled with underachievement in recent memory. Darian DeVries is desperately trying to change that trajectory and he certainly has his first season in town off to a good start. The Indiana offense was operating at a high level in the first weeks of the season, including in that resounding 23-point win over Marquette.
The offense wasn’t quite operating at the same level but the Hoosiers did enough last Sunday to win 69-61 over Incarnate Word. Despite poor outside shooting, Indiana got 16 points from Sam Alexis and 14 points from Tucker DeVries in another win at home. The Hoosiers were back on the court with a 73-53 win against Lindenwood on Thursday, getting 25 points from DeVries in a stellar performance.
It’s true that Indiana hasn’t played the same level of schedule as some of the top contenders in the Big Ten but it’s hard to argue against the initial results here for DeVries and his new Hoosiers. Obviously, there will be many games in the weeks and months ahead that show us what this team is really about, especially after two less impressive showings on offense this week. They’ll host Kansas State right before the holiday and Bethune Cookman right after with the very real potential of 7-0.