Takeaways From Indiana's 2020 Football Schedule
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Image: Indiana University Athletics
Written y T.J. Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)
Earlier this week, the Big Ten announced their plan to return to play on the weekend of October 24. After a couple of days of anticipation and projection, the Big Ten released their schedule for the eight-game conference slate. This is the second schedule release done by the conference and we all hope the excitement for this season lasts longer than the fallout from the first schedule release. IU will play, in order: Penn State, at Rutgers, Michigan, at Michigan State, at Ohio State, Maryland, at Wisconsin and Purdue.
1. Indiana faces the Big Ten East plus crossover foes Wisconsin and Purdue. IU will play their East division opponents in the first six games before playing the two West teams.
2. From IU's original schedule, the Hoosiers drop games against UConn, Western Kentucky, Ball State and Illinois. That is three very likely wins and a toss-up contest against Illinois that have disappeared from the schedule. It cannot be helped but the ceiling for this season has been significantly lowered by the pandemic forced adjustments.
3. Unlike the nine-game schedule that was released in August, IU does not have any murderous stretches. This eight-game schedule is more balanced and does not feature multiple games in a row against projected ranked teams.
4. Hoosier Huddle will get into season projections in the near future but a quick glance, without knowing who will be available who will be out with injury or through COVID protocol, reveals a realistic chance at four to five wins. In a wonky season like this one, that seems like it would be a massive success.
5. Glancing at the schedule's of the other league teams: Ohio State was given crossover games against Nebraska and Illinois. Their slate looks about as easy as they could possibly have been given. If they have a game or two cancelled, will a 6-0 Buckeyes squad that faced mediocre competition get in the playoff? Nebraska has a very tough challenge ahead of them as they drew Ohio State and Penn State in addition to the West division opponents.
Hoosier Huddle will have ongoing coverage as we ramp up our preview of the upcoming 2020 Big Ten football season.