Initial Takeaways on IU's 2024 and 2025 Football Conference Opponents

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

The Big Ten Conference announced their 2024-2025 football conference matchups on Thursday afternoon as the conference gets ready for the additions of USC and UCLA in 2024. The Big Ten will stay at nine conference games and play a Flex Protect Plus model that has IU with one protected rival (Purdue) and two ‘two-play’ opponents (Maryland and Michigan State) for the 24-25 seasons. Here are my initial takeaways on Indiana’s future football schedules:

1. Thank Goodness Divisions are Gone

Hoosier fans will have to wait one more season, but the Big Ten divisions are gone and that’s a good thing for Indiana football. IU will not have to play Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State every season. That doesn’t mean there won’t be a brutal schedule in the future (looking at you 2025), but it’s not an every year thing. It also opens up the schedule to opponents IU has not seen as often (Northwestern, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin) since the advent of divisional play in 2011. Starting in 2024 the top two teams in the conference will meet in the Big Ten Championship Game, which will give the Big Ten more of a chance to send teams to a 12-team playoff.

2. The Bucket Game is Protected While Spittoon Game is a Two-Play Matchup

The Hoosiers will have one protected rival in the new set up and that is Purdue. The Bucket Game is safe and that’s a great thing for both programs and comes as no surprise. However, the Old Brass Spittoon Game against Michigan State is not a protected rivalry. That game will be played in 2024 and 2025 as part of IU’s two-play opponents. The Spittoon Game has gained some momentum in the IUFB fanbase as the Hoosiers have won the trophy game three times since 2016 and the games have been closely contested recently. This is where flexible scheduling could come in if that becomes a more important game in the Big Ten landscape.

3. IU to Play Both West Coast Teams

IU will play each of the two new additions to the Big Ten in 2024 and 2025. The Hoosiers will host UCLA in 2024 and travel to LA to play USC in 2025. Hoosier fans probably wish these were reversed, but it is what it is. At the very least IU fans have one more year to save money for a trip out West, but I believe the trip to UCLA is the more anticipated travel.

4. Potential of at Least Seven Home Games in 2024 and 2025

The Hoosiers will play five conference home games in 2024 along with two home non-conference games meaning IU will play seven home games. There could be a potential for eight home games should IU and Louisville end their series early. In 2025 IU will play four conference games and have all three non-conference games at home. Having 14 home games over a two-year span should help IU in the quest to get back to a bowl.

5. 2024 is Significantly Easier than 2025

The 2024 schedule is what IU fans dreamed of when the Big Ten announced the end of divisions. The Hoosiers don’t have to play Ohio State, Michigan or USC in 2024 while getting games with Northwestern (away), Maryland (home), Minnesota (home), Michigan State (away) and Purdue (away). 2023 becomes an even more important year to build momentum heading into the most manageable conference schedule that IU has had in many years.

Even though divisions are gone, the Hoosiers will still have a bear of a schedule for 2025. Michigan and Ohio State come back on the schedule and the Hoosiers add a road trip to USC. Iowa and Illinois replace Northwestern and Minnesota and Penn State falls off the schedule.

6. Is Nebraska Ever Coming Back to Bloomington?

Since the Cornhuskers joined the Big Ten in 2011 they have made just a single trip to Bloomington. Nebraska is on the schedule again in 2024, but is in Lincoln for the third-straight time in the series (2019,2022). One of the drawbacks to divisional play was not seeing teams regularly. I am sure this is a sacrifice that had to be made to balance schedules, but it should not be a decade or more between trips to each campus.

Final Thoughts

Overall, getting rid of divisions is a major win for the Indiana football program. It is great that IU and Purdue is a protected rivalry and that the Spittoon Game is on the docket for the next two seasons.

The schedule does not guarantee anything though. Like everyone else, the Hoosiers must take advantage when they get a schedule break and that includes scheduling non-conference opponents.