The Hoosier football season kicks off in under seven weeks. As fans get ready for the season, I wanted to give one thought on each of IU’s 12 regular season games this season. Grab a beverage, adjust your pool or beach chair and get ready to dig in.
Week One: Old Dominion Monarchs
The Monarchs are more talented than people are giving them credit for. With a young dual-threat quarterback and bigger receivers, ODU can put a scare into Power Four opponents if they are not prepared.
Week Two: Kennesaw State Owls
An opponent who may be running some version of the veer can be tricky, but it should not affect the outcome of the game.
Week Three: Indiana State Sycamores
The Sycamores are better than the last time they came to Memorial Stadium, but this should be another Friday night romp against an FCS foe.
Week Four: Illinois Fighting Illini
Each team’s season could hinge on this game. Illinois is being talked about as a potential College Football Playoff team, while IU is still dealing with doubters. A Hoosier win could be the difference between a good season and another great season.
Week Five: At Iowa Hawkeyes
The good news is that it’s not a night game at Kinnick.
Week Six: Bye #1
The first bye week comes at a great juncture between road trips to Iowa and Oregon. If IU can be 4-1 or 5-0, the Hoosiers will be heading to Eugene with a ton of momentum and in the CFP discussion.
Week Seven: at Oregon Ducks
The “experts” will harp on the results IU had against OSU and ND last season. A trip to Eugene can either extend or extinguish the narrative that IU can’t beat top-10 teams.
Week Eight: Michigan State Spartans
The road team has won the last six in this series. It is homecoming for IU and a chance to retain the Old Brass Spittoon.
Week Nine: UCLA Bruins
Trips east have not been successful for the former Pac-12 teams in the Big Ten. UCLA is improved too
Week Ten: at Maryland Terrapins
The Hoosiers have not won here since 2019. This series has been one of momentum. IU currently has it after Maryland won three in a row against the Hoosiers.
Week Eleven: at Penn State Nittany Lions
The Hoosiers have never won in Happy Valley. There have been close calls, but usually it’s a house of horrors.
Week Twelve: Wisconsin Badgers
Will Wisconsin be dead in the water or shocking the nation? The Badgers enter a big year until Luke Fickell and their schedule is not going to make it easy.
Week Thirteen: Bye #2
A late bye week allows for more smack talk with Purdue.
Week Fourteen: at Purdue Boilermakers
A Black Friday matchup in West Lafayette puts the Old Oaken Bucket Game in front of a national audience. Ross-Ade has been a tough place for favorites to play at night, but Purdue is rebuilding under new coach Barry Odom.