Indiana is still unbeaten, still sitting at 6-0, and still staring at a finish that could make the second half of the season plenty interesting. The Hoosiers are tied atop the Big Ten with Ohio State and UCLA, ranked No. 5 in the country, and now they head into the back half with six games left to sort out.
Curt Cignetti’s take in his Week 7 preview of Ohio State summed up the vibe perfectly: “A great team, we’re playing. I’m not sure how good we are yet.”
That much is fair. Indiana has answered a lot of questions, but not all of them.
What is clear is that the Hoosiers are good, and they’ve shown enough through six games to deserve that label.
The toughest test remaining comes first. Indiana’s Week 7 trip to Ohio State was always going to be the hardest game on the schedule, and that still looks true now.
The Buckeyes are on another level, even with the Hoosiers carrying the kind of confidence that comes from surviving a tight Big Ten road game at Nebraska. Indiana erased an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit there after being stuck on six points for more than three quarters.
That says plenty about toughness and poise.
Still, Nebraska is not Ohio State. The Buckeyes are the better team, and home field only goes so far in a matchup like this. Indiana can absolutely compete, but the call here is Ohio State in Week 7.
From there, the schedule softens a bit. Indiana’s Week 8 trip to Michigan looked like a monster game before the season, but the Wolverines have not lived up to that billing.
Their defense is respectable, yet the offense - with sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood - has been a mess. Indiana’s road win at Nebraska suggests Michigan’s defense could hang around longer than expected, but the Hoosiers should still leave with another hard-earned road victory.
After that comes a home date with Purdue, and this is where Indiana should get to lean on its offense. Purdue just beat Minnesota 41-13, which is no small thing for a P.J.
Fleck team, and it confirms the Boilermakers are having their best season in years. Even so, there’s no reason to get cute here.
Indiana should control this one, and this looks like a good chance for the ground game to get rolling.
The USC game brings a different kind of stress. The Trojans’ offense against Indiana’s defense is the matchup to watch, especially with questions around whether the Hoosiers’ corners can hold up against USC’s standout receivers.
That could determine whether USC has any real shot in Bloomington. But even if the Trojans move the ball some, their defense has been shaky enough that it’s hard to see it slowing down Indiana’s multi-dimensional attack.
Washington was the game many circled as Indiana’s trap spot, and oddly enough, that still feels possible even with the Huskies sitting at 0-3 in Big Ten play. On paper, the Hoosiers should handle them.
But Husky Stadium can be a tricky place, and two of Washington’s three Big Ten losses have come by four points or fewer. That said, Washington just ran for negative three yards on 25 carries against Iowa, and Cignetti-led teams do not have a habit of drifting into games unprepared.
Indiana should be fine.
The finale at Purdue has the ingredients for chaos, because rivalry games always do, and the Boilermakers have won back-to-back Big Ten games against good teams. They beat Illinois in Champaign and then handled Minnesota.
That’s real momentum. But then there’s the number that matters most in this rivalry: Curt Cignetti 122, Purdue 3.
Indiana by a million.
In Other News...
Former Hoosiers Just Gave Indiana Fans Two New NFL Reasons To Watch
Week 5 of the NFL season gave Indiana fans a fresh reminder of how many former Hoosiers are still finding roles on Sundays, even if those roles look different from player to player. Fernando Mendoza finally got into the mix for the Las Vegas Raiders in his NFL debut, seeing 10 offensive snaps and going 6 of 8 for 48 yards, while Myles Price kept carving out a place with the Minnesota Vikings on offense and special teams.
For Indiana supporters, it is the sort of scattered but meaningful NFL footprint that makes the weekly scoreboard worth checking beyond the college game. Mendozas first action offered a small but notable milestone, and Prices continued usage as a returner and depth piece shows the Hoosiers pipeline is still sending talent into places where it can help right away, even if the bigger breakout moment is still waiting to come. [Read more 🡒]
Indianas Biggest Ohio State Concern Just Became Hard To Ignore
Indiana football got a useful road win at Nebraska, but Curt Cignetti made it clear the Big Ten grind does not ease up from here. With Ohio State next on the schedule, the focus has quickly shifted from celebrating one hard-earned result to preparing for a far bigger test, and Cignetti pointed to the kind of details that tend to decide games at this level. He praised Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith as an exceptional player, a compliment that comes with plenty of weight when a coach starts game-planning for one of the conferences most dangerous offenses.
Cignetti also used the Nebraska game as a reminder of what Indiana still needs to clean up before facing Ohio State. He cited missed defensive assignments and a limited running game, noting that the ground attack was affected by the conditions and by Nebraskas defense. For Indiana, the challenge is now less about carrying momentum and more about proving it can sharpen the rough edges quickly enough to hang with a Buckeyes team that punishes hesitation. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Faces One Harsh Reality Ahead Of Ohio State
Indiana has made real progress on the recruiting trail, and the 2025 and 2026 rosters reflect a program that is climbing, even if the climb is still steep. A position-by-position look at the 247Sports composite data shows a more competitive Indiana group than in years past, the kind of roster construction that suggests the Hoosiers are not standing still as they head into a marquee matchup.
Still, the comparison with Ohio State drives home the gap Indiana is trying to close. The Buckeyes simply have more highly ranked prospects across the board and far fewer unranked players, which is the harsh reality facing Indiana as it prepares for the game. For the Hoosiers, the next step is not just recruiting better, but building enough roster depth and high-end talent to make these kinds of meetings feel less lopsided. [Read more 🡒]