Race Thompson and Trayce Jackson-Davis lead Indiana, the Big Ten's early title favorite

Indiana coach Mike Woodson put together one of the toughest nonconference schedules in the country for this season without even knowing if Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson would return.

With one of the best frontcourts in the country back, though, the Hoosiers are now facing expectations like they haven't experienced in years.

Thompson, a Plymouth native, will be playing his sixth year with Indiana, but until now had never been on a team picked as preseason favorites to win the Big Ten. The Hoosiers finished ninth last season.

"Being the team that everyone's looking at right now is definitely different," Thompson said Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days at Target Center. "Until that ball tips up in the air, you're not going to know, especially in the Big Ten. But I'm excited to get out there. Hopefully, we can live up to those expectations."

The Hoosiers, projected first in Monday's unofficial Big Ten media preseason poll, were 21-14 overall and 9-11 in the league in Woodson's first season as coach in 2021-22.

The breakthrough for Indiana's program last season wasn't within the conference hierarchy. But Woodson led his alma mater to its first NCAA tournament since winning the Big Ten in 2016.

The first-round loss to St. Mary's was so frustrating that it didn't take long for Thompson to announce that he was taking advantage of his extra COVID year of eligibility.

"We made it, but we didn't [go] as far as we wanted to," Thompson said. "It just made us hungry and that fueled my fire to come back. I wanted to make a run in the tournament. We got a taste of it, and we want to get more of that."

The 6-9, 245-pound Jackson-Davis averaged impressive numbers for a sophomore with 18.3 points and 8.1 rebounds a game. It was the type of season that made him consider the jump to the next level.

It wasn't meant to be, though, when he had to sit out the NBA draft combine in late May after testing positive for COVID-19. Maybe interpreting that as a sign, Jackson-Davis withdrew his name from the draft soon after.

"I could've made the jump after last year, but obviously COVID didn't help my scenario," Jackson-Davis said at media day. "It wasn't like it was a bad thing I had to come back. Being able to come back is actually going to help me in the long run, especially with who we have coming back."

Big Ten mainstays such as Purdue, Michigan and Illinois could challenge the Hoosiers for the role of early league title contender, but they've experienced more roster turnover through graduation and the transfer portal.

Thompson, who averaged a career-best 11.1 points and 7.5 rebounds last season, provides leadership and experience to the Hoosiers. He is the son of former Gophers running back and current radio analyst Darrell Thompson. Former five-star recruit Jalen Hood-Schifino gives the Hoosiers young talent — he was picked as the Big Ten media's unofficial preseason freshman of the year.

Woodson was proud of the step Indiana made to reach the NCAA tournament last season, but he knows his team will be tested before the bulk of Big Ten play starts this year. The Hoosiers face North Carolina, Arizona and Kansas during a stretch in late November and early to mid-December.

"I think competition is great. It's good for your program," Woodson said. "It gives us the opportunity to play some of the best teams in the country, just see where you are as a ballclub."