I just finished the book “Hoosier Autumn” by Robert D Arnold about the 1945 Indiana football team. Really good book that I think all of you would enjoy.
One thing I didn’t know until I read this was that the power schools in the conference used to refuse to play in Bloomington. This blew my mind. No wonder we had the most losses in college football until this year.
From 1901-1966, Indiana played Ohio State 48 times. Only 10 of those games were played in Bloomington.
From 1900-1967, Indiana played Michigan 28 times. Only two of those games were played in Bloomington.
From 1906-1963, Indiana played Minnesota 25 times. Three games were played in Bloomington and one in Indianapolis.
Even in 1945, the year Indiana finished 9-0-1, the Hoosiers only played one conference game at home - Purdue. Indiana played at Michigan, at Northwestern, at Iowa, at Minnesota and at Illinois.
It honestly seems like the deck was stacked against Indiana from the start.
That is wild, thank you for sharing.
I so wish the caveat or introduction to define Indiana Football as the once losingest program dies a magnificent and horrible and mangled death on Monday and when the page turns to the '26 season.
I just finished the book “Hoosier Autumn” by Robert D Arnold about the 1945 Indiana football team. Really good book that I think all of you would enjoy.
One thing I didn’t know until I read this was that the power schools in the conference used to refuse to play in Bloomington. This blew my mind. No wonder we had the most losses in college football until this year.
From 1901-1966, Indiana played Ohio State 48 times. Only 10 of those games were played in Bloomington.
From 1900-1967, Indiana played Michigan 28 times. Only two of those games were played in Bloomington.
From 1906-1963, Indiana played Minnesota 25 times. Three games were played in Bloomington and one in Indianapolis.
Even in 1945, the year Indiana finished 9-0-1, the Hoosiers only played one conference game at home - Purdue. Indiana played at Michigan, at Northwestern, at Iowa, at Minnesota and at Illinois.
It honestly seems like the deck was stacked against Indiana from the start.
Bloomington was a rural outpost and not easily accessible by rail. It made getting to away games at IU difficult for opposing teams, so they often leveraged that into an imbalance in the schedule.
One thing I didn’t know until I read this was that the power schools in the conference used to refuse to play in Bloomington. This blew my mind. No wonder we had the most losses in college football until this year.
That is wild, never had heard that before.
I have seen that but the explanation was that splitting the gate at Michigan and OSU was financially better than a home game.
Payback, is a bitch!
All true. Another excuse was that the old IN 37 route from Indy to Bloomington was a terrible road, which it was. It is the road that now goes through Dolan and Morgan Monroe State Forest but was even narrower then. There was a major bus wreck at the bridge in Dolan that killed a bunch of people and no one wanted to travel to Bloomington by bus.
A great book…Reread between the B1G Championship & Rose Bowl. Originally got it when it was first published & was honored to have it signed by Pete Pihos!
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