The Indiana Hoosiers arrived as a College Football Playoff team in 2024 with the program’s first 11-win season. Even with that success, there were still some questions as to how good the team was, given the strength of schedule and the lack of a true signature win.
That is not going to be the case this season.
There should be no questioning their schedule or quality of their wins, especially after going on the road on Saturday to No. 3 Oregon and delivering a 30-20 win that might be the biggest in the history of the program (for now).
Indiana is now a legitimate contender
What else is there to say about the Hoosiers at this point?
They entered the day as the No. 7 team in the country, and now have two wins over top-10 ranked opponents this season. They did not beat a single ranked opponent at all during the 2024 season, losing both games to ranked teams (Ohio State and Notre Dame) by a combined score of 65-32. They were not even competitive in those games, and it led to extensive discussion about whether or not they were even worthy of a playoff spot.
They have not only beaten ranked teams this season, but they have also mostly dominated them.
Two weeks ago, they beat then-No. 9-ranked Illinois by a 63-10 margin, and then delivered an even more impressive win on Saturday in one of the toughest road environments in college football. The Hoosiers not only beat Oregon, but they did so by double-digits and held the Ducks’ high-powered offense to only 13 points (the Ducks had an interception return for a touchdown for seven of their points).
That might be the most impressive part of Saturday’s game.
Now that Indiana has delivered the message that it is a contender, the question becomes how far it can go this season. In the short term, Indiana fans have to be excited about the rest of the regular season.
The Hoosiers do not have to play Ohio State or Michigan, while their remaining schedule features Michigan State, UCLA, Maryland, Penn State, Wisconsin and Purdue.
They should be favorites, and perhaps significant favorites, in every single one of those games. On paper, Penn State would figure to be the biggest challenge remaining, but the Nittany Lions’ season has turned into a massive disappointment, while starting quarterback Drew Allar is going to miss the remainder of the season.
Running the table in the regular season is very much a possibility.
The 2024 season was Indiana’s best football season to date. The 2025 season is shaping up to be even better.
