Indiana’s second title defense opens at noon Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, and the first test comes against North Texas at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
The Hoosiers enter the season at No. 6 in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll, sitting third among Big Ten teams behind Ohio State at No. 1 and Oregon at No. 2. That ranking comes with plenty of turnover around Curt Cignetti’s team, which is trying to follow up college football’s most unlikely season with another run at the top.
Indiana has retooled in several key spots, bringing in highly sought transfers Josh Hoover at quarterback, Nick Marsh at wide receiver and Turbo Richard at running back. On the other side, the defense will see a familiar face in former IU quarterback Tayven Jackson, who has been named North Texas’ QB1.
The game will air on Fox.
Forecasts in Bloomington call for partly sunny skies with a possible thunderstorm and a high in the upper 80s.
As for the matchup itself, the early predictions lean heavily toward Indiana. Zach Osterman of IndyStar picked the Hoosiers 48-7, writing, “It’s fair to say Indiana’s been slightly undercooked in its last two season openers.
But not nearly so raw as North Texas is bound to be, given all the turnover in Denton. Defense dominates this one.”
Michael Niziolek of the Herald-Times went with Indiana 49-13, saying, “North Texas is no Old Dominion. With a new coaching staff and few returning players, the Mean Green will struggle to keep up. Josh Hoover should have a better Hoosiers debut than Fernando Mendoza did, and the defense will make fewer mistakes than it did in the 2025 opener.”
Indiana’s 2026 schedule follows the North Texas opener with Howard on Sept. 12, Western Kentucky on Sept. 19 and Northwestern on Sept.
- The Big Ten slate includes road trips to Rutgers, Nebraska, Michigan and Washington, plus home dates with Ohio State, Minnesota and USC before the regular-season finale against Purdue on Nov.
The program’s title claim is no longer hypothetical. Indiana finished 16-0 in 2025 and beat Miami 27-21 on Jan. 19, 2026, to win the national championship.
In Other News...
Indiana Is Betting Big On Josh Hoover For One Critical Reason
Indianas quarterback plan took an important turn in early January when Josh Hoover arrived from TCU, giving Curt Cignetti another experienced option to shape the offense around. Hoover comes with real college seasoning after three seasons in Fort Worth, including multiple starts and enough game action to prove he is far beyond the usual transfer-project label.
Cignetti has made it clear he wants a quarterback who can step in and lead, which is why Hoovers track record matters so much to the Hoosiers. Indiana is looking for a steady hand under center, and the appeal here is obvious: a passer with production, experience and a profile that invites the same kind of optimism the program attached to Fernando Mendoza. [Read more 🡒]
Nico Radicic Is Already Crucial For Indiana And Still Has More To Prove
Since Curt Cignetti arrived in 2024, Nico Radicic has quietly become one of Indiana footballs most dependable weapons, the kind of specialist whose value shows up in tight games and then fades back into the background. He has been highly accurate on extra points and has converted most of his field goals, giving the Hoosiers a level of stability at kicker that is easy to overlook until the pressure rises.
That reliability mattered most in the 2026 National Championship game, when Radicic drilled a 35-yard field goal late to help extend Indianas lead. Even with that kind of moment on his resume, there is still a layer of unfinished business for him, especially as he works to improve from longer range while carrying Lou Groza Award watch-list expectations into the next stretch of his career. [Read more 🡒]
Curt Cignetti Uses These Indiana Games For Something Bigger Than Wins
Indianas early non-conference games have not always looked like the kind that turn heads on a national stage, but for Curt Cignetti and his staff, they serve a larger purpose. Against Florida International and Old Dominion, Indiana has treated those matchups as a laboratory of sorts, using them to test ideas, sort out player roles and see what actually translates once Big Ten play begins.
One of the clearest examples has been the way the Hoosiers have worked to tap into Fernando Mendozas mobility while also keeping trusted targets like Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. involved in the ways that have already proven useful. The point is not to pile up blowouts or chase style points in September. It is to leave those first few games with answers, even if the scoreboard looks more ordinary than the programs bigger ambitions. [Read more 🡒]