BLOOMINGTON — Darian DeVries‘ first Indiana basketball season will include trips to both coasts, renewal of old feuds and at least two trips to the Big Ten’s spiritual home.
We learned that and more Thursday, when the conference released its 2025-26 men’s basketball schedule. Times and TV designations remain largely undetermined, but we now have dates and places to pair with long-known Hoosiers opponents.
With that schedule finally confirmed, let’s dig into some takeaways ahead of DeVries’ first season in charge.
IU basketball has an unusually early preseason
IU doesn’t have a Hoosier Hysteria-type event since the date usually reserved on the calendar for what we used to call Midnight Madness now goes to a full-fledged exhibition game. It’s part of an unusually spread out preseason, which includes Hoosier Hoops on Kirkwood, a made-for-fans event, and a public scrimmage.
Then, IU will host Marian on Oct. 17, then face Baylor in Indianapolis nine days later. Whereas in the past, exhibitions tended to be stacked close to the start of the season, DeVries’ team will spread their preseason out across 2⅟₂ weeks. What that does for the way the Hoosiers structure their build-up to the season remains to be seen.
IU basketball features an old-school nonconference schedule
There’s a lot to like for the romantics in the fanbase.
Kentucky back on the schedule. A trip to Chicago to face the team that won the 1977 national championship. Enticing nonconference matchups up and down the I-65 corridor.
Two seasons ago, IU went east, making its way back to New York for the first time since the pandemic. Last year, the Hoosiers made their first appearance in the long-established Battle 4 Atlantis.
This winter, Indiana goes back to its roots, with high-major games in Bloomington, Indianapolis and Chicago, and a fascinating two weeks in December capped by IU’s first trip to Lexington in 15 years.
It’s the kind of nonconference schedule that wouldn’t have looked entirely out of place (admittedly without the proper Indiana and Hoosier Classics) when this program was at the peak of its powers.
IU basketball has a forgiving Big Ten start
Count me among those who think Niko Medved can do more with Minnesota than has been the case in the recent past, so that Dec. 3 opener in Minneapolis could be tricky. But Penn State got stripped by attrition in the offseason, and even with some meaningful transfer portal additions, Washington in Bloomington on Jan. 4 should favor IU.
There is, in theory, a manageable path to a 3-0 start to league play. Quality determines a team’s outcomes, but momentum can steer a season just as easily. There’s a chance to build some right into the new year.
IU basketball has a difficult January, may determine if Indiana is NCAA tournament team in 2026
Which would be helpful, given that beginning Jan. 7, IU goes to Maryland, Michigan State, Michigan, Rutgers, UCLA and USC all in the space of four weeks.
What the Terrapins and Trojans look like this winter remains to be seen. But Michigan has a case for best in class in the conference, UCLA is tough at home and Tom Izzo’s Michigan State is just plain tough.
The home games in this stretch appear manageable (it’s always best to caveat this stuff in the portal era) in this stretch, a Jan. 27 visit from Purdue excepted, but this run probably makes or breaks Indiana as a clear-cut tournament team.
There’s opportunity here. Grab one or two of these roadies and hold serve at Assembly Hall, and IU is well-positioned for the stretch run. That’s going to be easier said than done.
IU basketball’s comforts of home
That means five of IU’s last eight games are at home. And, after the Hoosiers get home from their first Los Angeles residency in the expanded Big Ten, they won’t travel further afield than Columbus until the conference tournament.
Of course, the Buckeyes look tough on paper this year, and those other two road tests are at Illinois and Purdue, back-to-back, sandwiched around Valentine’s Day. But even those games come with a five-day gap in between, and tricky tests like Wisconsin and Oregon will be reserved exclusively to Assembly Hall this winter.
DeVries’ team is going to have a difficult road to walk in December and January, but if they come out the other side with some quality wins in hand, there’s a path to powering into the Big Ten tournament with some wind in their sails.
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