What Indiana Football's Non-Conference Schedule Should Look Like
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Image: Amanda Pavelka
Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
There have been plenty of articles over the past few weeks and days trying to address the Indiana Hoosiers football non-conference schedule and I am ready to put my two cents in. First, let’s get this out of the way quickly. The Hoosiers and the rest of the Big Ten are held back by the nine-game conference schedule. Teams like Indiana are hamstrung the most. IU plays in arguably the toughest division in college football, the Big Ten East. They have to play Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State annually. In addition they have two rotating crossovers from the Big Ten West as their annual showdown with Purdue is the only locked in cross over in the conference. So that makes non-conference scheduling extremely important as well as highly inflexible. In a perfect world, the Big Ten would play eight conference games and IU could have more flexibility to schedule some tougher opponents in the non-conference. However, the Big Ten is stuck with the nine-game schedule for the foreseeable future.
There are two goals in scheduling non-conference opponents for the Hoosiers. Win games and gain a recruiting advantage.
First, are the games winnable. As pointed out above, the Hoosiers have a gauntlet of a division schedule already, so why would anyone schedule games so that they may draw a small increase in attendance instead of an almost assured win?
For a program that needs to start making regular bowl trips and a stadium that sees Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State every other year, it makes zero sense. The games against Ohio State and Michigan were not even close to selling out, so what makes one think that bringing in Boise State, Ole Miss or UCF would change that. We have seen that experiment and it cost the 2013 team a bowl berth as IU dropped home games to Missouri and Navy. Those two games averaged an announced crowd of 48,081 fans.
The second goal is to open up recruiting exposure or increase exposure in recruiting hot beds. With conference realignment, the Hoosiers now play conference games in the New York Metro area as well as the D.C., Maryland, Virginia (DMV) area. New Jersey is always a hot bed for recruits who make the leap to the Big Ten and the DMV is one of the better recruiting areas in the country. Under Tom Allen the Hoosiers have built a pipeline to Florida, which made the series against Florida International very appealing. The Hoosiers went 3-0 and played two games in Miami. It just makes sense.
IU doesn’t have to worry about going to the North East and Mid-Atlantic since it is now in the Big Ten foot print. As are Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois. IU should find schools willing to play in a 2-for-1 series in Texas (think Rice, UTSA, SMU), Tennessee (Memphis, Middle Tennessee State), Florida (FAU, FIU, USF), California (San Jose State, San Diego State) and other southern states (Arkansas, Arkansas State, Southern Miss, South Alabama, etc.)
There has to be a strategy put in place for non-conference scheduling. Randomly playing Boise State because they have blue turf is not smart, playing Mississippi or Mississippi State because they have colorful coaches, while checks one box for IU, doesn’t really do much for either school. If you want to play a team from North Carolina, play East Carolina or Charlotte who they already have on the docket.
IU’s 2019 non-conference schedule was perfect. IU played FCS opponent Eastern Illinois, in the future FCS teams will need the money from FBS games in order to survive, MAC opponent Ball State in Indianapolis and Connecticut at home. IU was favored in and won all three games on their way to an eight-win season.
The Hoosiers have Western Kentucky, Ball State and a trip to Connecticut on the non-conference slate in 2020. Outside of the trip to UConn, it’s a very well thought out schedule. IU needs three wins more than they need to play Boise State. That’s what bowl games are for, a quality opponents on a neutral site, but you need six wins to get there.
The Hoosiers have upcoming series with Cincinnati (2021-22), Idaho (2021-22), Indiana State (2023, ‘25, ‘27) Louisville (2023-25) and Western Kentucky (2020-22). The series with Louisville is a part of a deal that included three basketball games in (2016-2018). IU should do a similar deal with Kansas. The Hoosiers also have single games scheduled with Akron (2023), Charlotte (2024) and Florida International (2024).
So what does my ideal non-conference slate look like? I’ll give you my three-game slate as well as a hypothetical four-game slate that I’d want to see.
Ideal Three-Game Non-conference Schedule for IU
1. Ball State- While not exactly an in-state rivalry according to IU fans, this series has been close in the past and has produced some exciting moments for each side. Travel for each fan base is very easy and if Ball State wanted a third game at Lucas Oil Stadium annually, do it.
2a. FCS Team-According to Big Ten rules, teams can host FCS teams only in years where they host four conference games. FCS programs need the pay day and FBS teams like the win, and heck there are annual upsets by FCS teams over FBS teams. I believe giving local FCS teams a check and playing in Bloomington works out well for both parties. They stay in business and the Hoosiers are happy to hopefully take the win.
2b. On years where IU plays five conference games, IU cannot schedule an FCS opponent so that could make for some interesting trips. Heading south every other year would be great for recruiting exposure, especially playing teams like Florida Atlantic (Boca Raton), Florida International (Miami) and South Florida (Tampa). Indiana already has relationships with FIU and USF (there was a cancelled series between the two).
3. Power 5 Bottom Feeder- The Big Ten requires teams to schedule a Power 5 team for a non-conference game (the AAC and Independents count). The Hoosiers have filled this slot (a requirement since 2015) with Wake Forest, Virginia and Connecticut. IU has gone 4-1 in five matchups thus far. This is an opportunity for IU play a name opponent and also create another matchup game. Indiana should look at Kansas, Vanderbilt, East Carolina, Oregon State and if independents do fulfill the requirement, UMass (home game only), UConn and Liberty all would count.
Ideal Fourth Game of a Non-conference Schedule for IU
4. Kentucky (or Illinois)- This was a great rivalry on the gridiron as well and people are so desperate for an IU-UK matchup that tickets would fly off the shelves for an annual matchup. It’s an easy drive for both schools. It’s a matchup opponent for both schools and it opens up recruiting areas for both schools. However, the bad blood between IU and UK off the field because of basketball may make this just a pipe dream. If there can’t be a deal worked out between the two, I’d love to see Indiana and Illinois play a “non-conference” game in years they’re not slated to play. Last year Wake Forest and North Carolina, two ACC schools, met in a “non-conference game”, so it can be done. Like Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana have a solid rivalry as well. However, they have only met once on the gridiron since 2013 and that tends to throw water on any rivalry. Again, it’s an easy trip for both schools’ fan bases and would bring in Power Five opponent without much risk.
Indiana football fans are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to scheduling. On one hand fans want to see new big-name teams come to Memorial Stadium and on the other hand, if the team does not win six games, it’s a failure. At this point in time, the Hoosier fans can’t have their cake and eat it too. Attendance has been dropping and even the Ohio State and Michigan games don’t sell out in 2019, with the fans’ excuse is win more games…so what is it? Win games and go to a bowl game or go 5-7 or even 4-8 and say “whoopie, 38,000 fans came to see IU play Boise State”?
The Hoosiers play enough high-level teams by playing in the Big Ten East. Add on the fact that the Big Ten is also playing nine conference games and wins are already tough enough to come by for a team that is still trying to build a culture that supports football.