Indiana Might Still Be A Top-Five Roster
Bill Connelly
"I do think people are really struggling to figure out where to place Indiana this season. Because obviously, you can't go up any further from one, but, you know, how far are they going to fall? Are they going to fall to third or sixth or tenth or something? I kind of feel like that's still a top five roster. Well, roster plus coaching staff. So I'm still feeling pretty good about them. And maybe that puts me at odds with some people."
Context
Bill placing Indiana in top-five-roster territory for 2026, against a consensus that has them anywhere between 5 and 15. The roster + coaching staff combination is the load-bearing argument — Bill won't separate them.
This is the specific structural-vs-circumstantial test Cignetti's provisional Elite tier placement was set up to resolve. If Indiana stays top-five, Bill ratifies the show's provisional placement. If they fall to 10-15 with the natural personnel attrition, the placement gets pressure-tested.