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Ty Simpson was a guest on the “Downs 2 Business” podcast with Caleb Downs and Josh Downs, and he discussed why he believed Indiana beat Alabama in the Rose Bowl.

The Crimson Tide’s offense was unable to score a touchdown against the Hoosiers in the 38-3 loss. Simpson shone a light on why he felt Indiana had so much success against Alabama on X.

“From my point of view, I was like they don’t much,” Simpson said. “I was like they do the same thing every down and so when I get the ball, I knew exactly what was going to happen. They just didn’t mess up, bro. They were in the exact same spot they were supposed to be, and they were so well coached. It was so much different than the SEC. In the SEC, they’ll play man, they’ll do these unorthodox coverages because kind of how it is. That game was crazy to me. Of course, I got hurt; that was a bummer. But I just knew what they were going to do, but we couldn’t really run the ball. We didn’t really throw it. It was so crazy to me how it happened.”

Indiana went on to beat Oregon in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff, and the Hoosiers defeated Miami in the National Championship after defeating the Crimson Tide.

Simpson and Caleb Downs are now both gearing up to be drafted this month.

Justin Smith is the Managing Editor and Lead Writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine with over 10 years of writing experience & expertise. Smith has consistently delivered high quality, extensively researched information on the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team that fans can trust. Smith is official credentialed media with the University of Alabama under Touchdown Alabama Magazine. He is also the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Enterprises, specializing in scouting and analyzing high school recruits around the nation, specifically focusing on recruits within the state of Alabama.

Indiana may be one of the most decorated programs in college basketball history, but a brand name no longer has the recruiting pull it used to. In the past, the Hoosiers had a foolproof sell: it’s Indiana. Nowadays, in the NIL era, the playing field has been leveled. 

To win in the transfer portal and recruiting as a whole, a program like Indiana needs a premier recruiter – and it has one in Darian DeVries.

Heading into his second season as the Hoosiers head man, DeVries is on an absolute heater, as he just landed his sixth transfer (Villanova guard Bryce Lindsay) on Wednesday night. 

With the addition of Lindsay, the Hoosiers have arguably the No. 1 transfer class in the nation and certainly one of the top three. Here are three takeaways from Indiana’s offseason thus far:

Indiana won’t have a talent problem in 2026-27

On one hand, the expectations are high in Bloomington – especially after the turnaround Curt Cignetti engineered in just two quick years on the gridiron. And an NCAA Tournament appearance isn’t exactly the Herculean task a College Football Playoff berth, let alone a national title, is. 

Then again, DeVries didn’t have much time to craft his 2025-26 roster, and the end result wound up being less-than ideal from a talent perspective. All things considered, DeVries didn’t do a poor job given the roster he had. But it was also his roster. 

Coaching is a balance of roster-building, X’s and O’s and culture. It’s up to DeVries to tailor a roster fit to his coaching strengths. Here in the 2026 offseason, he’s sent a message: recruiting will not be a problem. As a result, talent won’t be a weakness – it’ll be a strength. 

The question now: can DeVries take advantage of an uber-skilled crew? Can he mesh the pieces and, ideally, create a product better than the sum of its parts? If the 2025-26 season was any sign, the answer is yes – which means a Big Dance appearance should be the bare minimum next year. 

How will the backcourt depth chart shake out?

The Hoosiers are going to have a loaded guard rotation, and DeVries has a variety of options in terms of a starting backcourt.

Markus Burton is a surefire starter at lead guard, but then DeVries can choose between Bryce Lindsay and Jaeden Mustaf at the two, or, potentially, he could run both together at shooting guard and small forward.

What about Duke transfer Darren Harris, though? He’s more of a wing, but it’s not exactly clear how he’ll fit in the fold. And incoming combo guard Prince-Alexander Moody can also compete for minutes. 

Fortunately, DeVries can’t exactly go wrong. A Burton-Lindsay starting backcourt would be undersized but loaded, chock-full of shooting and playmaking, while a Burton-Mustaf combo would be a slashing nightmare for opponents, strong defensively and tough on the boards. 

And if Moody shocks the college hoops world and manages to sneak in over both Lindsay and Mustaf, that means the Hoosiers have a bona fide star on their hands. 

With the addition of Lindsay, the Hoosiers have arguably the No. 1 transfer class in the nation and certainly one of the top three. Here are three takeaways from Indiana’s offseason thus far.

The Hoosiers should be much better on the glass

Indiana could have been a lot better on the boards a year ago. The Hoosiers were No. 296 in offensive rebounding rate and No. 122 in defensive rebounding rate, per Bart Torvik. As a squad, Indiana was often undersized – and sometimes by a huge margin. Naturally, the glass suffered, affecting both sides of the floor. 

In 2026-27, the Hoosiers should flip the script in that department. With incoming big men Aiden Sherrell (Alabama) and Samet Yigitoglu (SMU) combining for 14.1 total rebounds per outing despite neither playing more than 30 minutes per game in this past campaign, Indiana should have a dominant glass-cleaning unit in the frontcourt in 2026-27.

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