Pike, Bellmont Lead IndyStar's Early Indiana Girls Basketball Rankings For 2025-26

Before the nets are cut down at this year's IHSAA state finals, IndyStar's Brian Haenchen is already looking ahead. His early statewide rankings for Indiana girls basketball's 2025-26 season put Pike Athletics and Bellmont at the top of a field built around programs with the most compelling returner pools in the state. These rankings aren't a reaction to a single tournament run; they're a projection grounded in roster continuity and program depth heading into next season.

Here is how the early rankings shape up, and why each program belongs in the conversation.

1. Pike Athletics

Pike lands at the top spot, and the case is straightforward: the program brings back the kind of returner core that championship contenders are built around. Pike has consistently been one of Indiana's premier girls basketball programs, and Haenchen's early placement reflects confidence that the talent staying in the building will keep them competitive at the highest level of the IHSAA classification structure. For a program of Pike's stature, an early No. 1 ranking heading into a new season is both a statement and a target.

2. Bellmont

Bellmont earns the No. 2 position in these early rankings, which is a significant acknowledgment for a program that has been building toward sustained contention. The Braves' inclusion near the top of a statewide list that covers every classification signals that Haenchen sees returner talent capable of making a deep IHSAA tournament run in 2025-26. Bellmont's early ranking will make them one of the most closely watched programs when the new season tips off.

3. Other Strong Returner Programs

Beyond the top two, Haenchen's rankings identify a broader field of Indiana programs positioned as contenders based on the strength of their returning rosters. The post-2025-26 IHSAA state finals landscape is the lens through which these projections are made, meaning teams that absorbed a deep tournament run this spring and return their key contributors will move up the board as the offseason develops. The full list represents Haenchen's read on where Indiana girls basketball power is concentrated heading into the next cycle.

The methodology behind early rankings like these matters as much as the names on the list. Haenchen is not ranking teams on reputation or historical brand alone. The forward-looking framework centers on returners because those are the players who carry a program's offensive and defensive systems into the following season without a rebuild. A team that loses its top two scorers and a starting point guard to graduation is a fundamentally different program than one that returns that production, regardless of what the trophy case looks like.

That distinction is why Pike and Bellmont sit where they do. Both programs are being recognized for what they will have, not just what they have done. In Indiana girls basketball, where the IHSAA state finals consistently produce surprising runs from programs that return experienced rosters, early rankings that prioritize continuity tend to age well.

The timing of these rankings, arriving as the 2025-26 finals are still being contested, also signals something important about the competitive landscape. Programs that finished deep in this year's bracket and return the bulk of their contributing players will be natural risers as Haenchen refines his list through the offseason. The early version is a starting point, not a verdict, and the teams currently ranked below Pike and Bellmont have every reason to close that gap before next November's tip-off.

What these rankings ultimately tell you is that Indiana girls basketball's next season already has a clear pecking order at the top, with Pike and Bellmont set up to be the standard everyone else is chasing.