Indiana Basketball’s KenPom Ranking Revealed for 2025 Season

Although Indiana isn’t expected to debut in the preseason top-25, the Hoosiers did have one of the highest-rated transfer classes in the country (No. 10, per 247 Sports), and appear poised to take a step in the right direction in Year One of the DeVries era. 

But, historically speaking, the AP poll hasn’t been the most accurate measure in terms of predicting success. Especially in today’s era, much of the college basketball world – and sports as a whole – is focused on analytics. 

In an encouraging sign for the Hoosiers, they appear to be well-respected in perhaps the sport’s most prominent metric: KenPom. 

Where did Indiana land in the KenPom preseason rankings?

DeVries’ crew was tabbed as the No. 40 team in the country in the initial release of KenPom’s 2025-26 rankings. Both Indiana’s offense (No. 35) and its defense (No. 41) are expected to be stellar, but neither are projected to be dominant by KenPom. 

10 other Big Ten squads ranked ahead of the Hoosiers, including notable teams in Purdue (No. 3), Illinois (No. 6), and UCLA (No. 10). 

How are KenPom preseason rankings calculated?

The metric – whether it’s the middle of the season, the end, or the beginning – is built to be “purely predictive”. For the preseason, KenPom uses box score and play-by-play data, along with scheduling information, while taking into account transfer portal additions and any other roster changes. 

Essentially, the analytical tool seems to use all available statistical data involving every member of a current team. Then, it flips all of that into an “adjusted efficiency margin”, also known as the “Net Rating”, to rank each team in Division I. 

It has been proven to be such an effective metric that even the NCAA Tournament committee uses it in the March Madness selection process. 

Nevertheless, considering Indiana hasn’t even played an exhibition game just yet, it’s safe to say that KenPom can’t be entirely accurate on pinpointing where the Hoosiers rank among the nation’s best. 

That said, it’s a promising sign that such a lauded metric appears to be relatively confident in Indiana heading into the 2025-26 campaign.