Photo Credit: Indiana University Athletics

The Indiana Hoosiers are back where they belong: ranked in the AP Top 25, albeit in a three-way tie for 25th. Since IU won their last Big Ten regular season title in 2016, the Hoosiers have fallen back out of relevance. After rising to #3 in the country in January 2017 following a beat down of defending national champions North Carolina in Assembly Hall the Hoosiers promptly lost to IPFW and began their slide to the bottom.

Just two years later the Hoosiers are back in the AP Top 25 for the first time since January 2017 and the first time in the Archie Miller era. Led by stellar senior Juwan Morgan and Big Ten Freshman of the Year candidate Romeo Langford the Hoosiers look like a team that could make some noise this year in the Big Ten and in March. With their last three wins coming by a combined five points (2 points over Northwestern, 2 points over Penn State and 1 point over Louisville) the Hoosiers look like a team that will be able to grind out tough wins as the season progresses.

IU’s recent success begs the question: What is this team’s ceiling? Well, that’s complicated. The Hoosiers possess one of the more suffocating teams in the country allowing 64.7 points per game, good enough for 45thin the country. However, the Hoosiers struggle to put the ball in the basket, especially at the free throw line. IU ranks 312th(!!!) in the nation in free throw shooting at 63.6% putting them behind powerhouses Cleveland State and Quinnipiac. Since IU blew out Marquette 96-73, the Hoosiers have only scored 70.7 points per game in a stretch that included two come from behind wins over UC Davis and UT Arlington and a beatdown at Cameron Indoor. The Hoosiers need to find something resembling an offense going forward to compete in a historically deep Big Ten.

The long-term outlook for the Hoosiers is even stronger following the commitment of top Indiana high school prospect Trayce Jackson-Davis. In just two years Archie Miller has signed one Indiana Mr. Basketball and the presumptive favorite for this year’s award, something Tom Crean was never able to accomplish. Coach Miller’s focus on recruiting in-state is paying off and positioning the Hoosiers to return to the upper echelon of college basketball sooner than later.

This year may not end with trophies and confetti, but this IU team is different from the teams of the last decade. These Hoosiers are built on grit and toughness, translating into hard-nosed defense and a never say die attitude. Archie Miller is building a program that will be able to compete to add another banner to the north side of Assembly Hall soon and the Hoosiers’ return to the AP Top 25 is just the first step.