Buck(Eyes) On The 2025 Indiana Hoosiers

“My father taught me many things here – he taught me in this room. He taught me: keep your friends close, but your enemies closer… ~ Michael Corleone to Frank Pentageli, The Godfather Part II

I freely admit that The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are among my favorite movies. Both movies offer up memorable scenes and quotes, with the one up above having significance as it relates to this article, and the series of articles that will be following it over the next few weeks from me.

When The Big Ten expanded to 18 teams, as well as the conference’s decision to eliminate divisions, it resulted in a decision to adjust its scheduling process, rotating teams through the 2028 season. Each team is guaranteed to play every Big Ten team during this period.

It is against this backdrop that I want to look at the teams in 2025 that Ohio State is not scheduled to play. I want to emphasize the phrase “not scheduled”, because it does not mean that Ohio State will not play these teams, but it raises the possibility that the teams may wind up facing each other in The Big Ten Championship Game, or even in a College Football Playoff match-up. Using the logic of Michael Corleone, I am speculating that Ryan Day and his coaching staff are going to allocate some of their time keeping an eye on how the other teams within the conference are doing, even if they are not on the 2025 schedule.

I will be looking at the teams within The Big Ten, strictly from an alphabetical point of view. First on the docket are the 2025 Indiana Hoosiers.

2024 Results: Say what you will about the final game of the season for the Hoosiers, but it was the greatest football season in school history, and I am including its 1967 season that earned Indiana its last Rose Bowl game appearance. Indiana began the season 10-0, until losing to Ohio State 38-15 on November 23rd, 2024. Indiana finished the season 11-1, tied with Penn State for 2nd in The Big Ten, and then were eliminated in the first round of The College Football Playoff by Notre Dame, 27-17.

Next Scheduled Regular Season Game Versus Ohio State: In 2026, with the Buckeyes scheduled to travel to Bloomington. The date and time of the game has not yet been announced.

Biggest Personnel Losses From 2024: Two crucial players: DL CJ West and QB Kurtis Rourke were both selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2025 NFL Draft, with West as a 4th round selection, while Rourke was a 7th round selection.

Biggest Personnel Gains For 2025: Indiana was very active in the transfer portal, bringing in 23 new players. QB Fernando Mendoza from Cal is next up to replace Kurtis Rourke, while the Hoosiers actively replenished their offensive line with Pat Coogan (Notre Dame), Kahlil Benson (Colorado), and former Buckeye Zen Michalski.

Most Challenging Portion Of The 2025 Schedule: Indiana does not have to face Ohio State or Michigan in 2025, but have a difficult beginning to their Big Ten conference slate versus Illinois (September 20th), at Iowa (September 27th), and at Oregon (October 11th).

Possibility Of A Big Ten Championship Game Appearance In 2025? Unlikely. Last season, Curt Cignetti and his coaching staff took The Big Ten and the college football world by surprise, and that element of surprise is not there this season. If anything, The Big Ten will be on full alert for when the Hoosiers are a scheduled opponent.

The above written games, as well as another challenging road game later in the season at Penn State on November 8th, leave me believing that the Hoosiers will not be making the in-state trip for The Big Ten Championship Game on December 6th. Indiana should be a bowl team, but the Hoosiers may not be able to earn another College Football Playoff berth.

Next week, the focus will shift to the 2025 Iowa Hawkeyes.

As always, let me know what you think.