2025 Schedule
- Thread starter Cap99
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But there wasn’t a 12 team playoff either. Every single pundit and expert thinks IU is in with one loss. Will it be close? Of course.
Michigan cheated last season until late in the season when they were mandated to suspend Harbaugh.
This is a moot point, our boys are winning out!
Well the 2024 and 2025 schedules were “get bowl eligible” schedules … not anticipating CCC’s wild success, this year. IU is starting a lot of fully grown men this year … there will be far fewer 6 and 7th year players next year. 4 conference home games in 2025 does not say play a non conference P4 team for pride’s sake.
Maybe we can stop scheduling FCS opponents … the SEC cupcakes are no better than ours they play G5 and FCS schools too. Sure we can take a made for TV matchup, the first game of a future season. Didn’t need it so far this year.
Once upon a time IU lost to some of these P5 teams. Scheduling Big P5 Opponents cost Lee Corso wins that may have given IU winning seasons in 76 (Nebraska & NC State) and 77 (Nebraska). Over scheduling has risks.
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There are far too many factors in play to even consider messing with the schedule at this point. Cig could leave (I don't think this will happen but it could) and IU would be right back to square one. Let's enjoy this magical ride and let scheduling take care of itself until Cig is fully settled in and IU continues to challenge teams at the top of the conference each year. One game at a time and one year at a time; that's the Cig way; the winning way!
Well, we did just buy out the Louisville contract so that one very unlikely to happen.
If we are going to control our pre-conference Schedule Year to Year, We should be able to work out an arrangement where We can schedule Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati Home and Home on a rotating basis. It makes sense geographically and fan interest wise. In the past, We have worked through a pre- conference schedule that was too easy and only allowed Us to "put lipstick on the pig" and ignore our problems rather than deal with Them early in the Year. Even after We beat Akron in Overtime last Year, I got the impression that the Coaching Staff was relieved to have the win, but didn't work to address the underlying problems. I would rather have a higher bar to measure against early in the year and risk a loss, than crush or slide by mediocre opponents that don't expose our problems.
There is also a recency factor in evaluating losses for Playoff Teams. A loss in September to a decent Team may not be as harmful as a late year loss to good team.
There is also a recency factor in evaluating losses for Playoff Teams. A loss in September to a decent Team may not be as harmful as a late year loss to good team.
I like the idea of rolling through those three teams over a 6 year period. Driveable. Regional rivals. I can dig it. 👍
Simply put, IU should NEVER EVER have less than 7 home games each season. We know we alternate B1G home games 5 one season, 4 the next, in a 9 game conference schedule.
That means the year with 4 B1G home games gets 3 cupcake home games.
The next year with 5 B1G home games I could see MAYBE playing a road OOC game; though I would still prefer 3 home OOC games or 2 home and one game in Indy.
Regardless, unless you play G6 or FCS teams, the other school will expect home and home. Eff 'em. I want IU home games. Fill our coffers and local merchants' pockets. A B1G schedule is tough enough, get as many games in Bloomington as we can.
There you have it. Might as well close this thread down and send this post to Scotty D. Dilemma solved.
That means the year with 4 B1G home games gets 3 cupcake home games.
The next year with 5 B1G home games I could see MAYBE playing a road OOC game; though I would still prefer 3 home OOC games or 2 home and one game in Indy.
Regardless, unless you play G6 or FCS teams, the other school will expect home and home. Eff 'em. I want IU home games. Fill our coffers and local merchants' pockets. A B1G schedule is tough enough, get as many games in Bloomington as we can.
There you have it. Might as well close this thread down and send this post to Scotty D. Dilemma solved.
And..... If we Win enough games to reach the Playoffs we'll always see an Alabama or a Texas type at the end of the season, when it actually matters and when we'll be at our sharpest...
That's when I want to see our toughest matchups, when we're ready for them...
A lot of things would have to go wrong for an 11-1 IU team to be left out of the CFP playoff this year ie multiple conference championship upsets.
One thing I hadn't ever considered, that I'm starting to see talked about, and meme type stuff popping up, is NFL teams coming after Cignetti.
I don't follow NFL all that closely, it seems like they value younger aged candidates...but man...Cig busts through in to the CFP, in year 1, and I'm Jerry Jones, or Ryan Poles, and I have some talent, just need someone to come in and pull it all together???
Nah...
Uh no. Our scheduling is fine. In a typical year we would be playing multiple ranked BIG teams. This just happens to be a down year of sorts.
On the flip. Not many P5 schools who would make a difference much for our SOS will schedule us. To high of risk for the reward currently. We don't draw a big enough TV audience like a traditional power to risk losing to us quite yet.
On the flip. Not many P5 schools who would make a difference much for our SOS will schedule us. To high of risk for the reward currently. We don't draw a big enough TV audience like a traditional power to risk losing to us quite yet.
I can’t see him going the NFL route but there will be some college teams team coming after him hard after the season is over.
I’m sure his agent is already hearing from them.
They won’t have any problem paying his buyout so that won’t be an issue.
But I think he will give IU every opportunity to match any offers.
I’m sure he appreciates IU being his first and only P4 job offer to date and that may play a role in any after season decisions.
But in the end it usually if not always comes down to money.
I considered it weeks ago but didn’t want to post about it because I didn’t want to hear/read all the different scenarios we may need to be concerned with.
For the record, I believe he stays at IU.
If i were Cignetti I would look at the terrible history of Coaches jumping directly from College to the NFL. Even a great Coach like Lou Holtz failed miserably in the NFL after jumping in directly from College. At age 63, He doesn't need the headache.
I don't think Coach Cig takes failure as an option into consideration. I get what you are saying though.
Don’t be naive. If we lose one of these final regular season games, we will be on the bubble. When the committee is comparing us against the other non-conf champs, We would have the following going against us:
1) a recent loss
2) we would likely not be a conf. Championship game participant
3) we will likely have the worst strength of schedule - by a wide margin
4) we wouldn’t have a quality win
5) we don’t have a brand with respect in college football.
Dont kid yourself, we would not be safely in with a loss.
If Indiana's only loss is to Ohio State on the road and it's semi-competitive, they will be in the college football playoff. Write it down.
Per ESPN, Indiana has an 85% chance of making the college football playoff and at the same time only gives the Hoosiers a 30% chance to beat Ohio State. Tells you a lot of what they think about a 1 loss Indiana team compared to their peers.
I appreciate everyone's confidence in an 11-1 Hoosier team getting in. I'm starting to come around on it. However, what happens if Clemson beats a top 4 ranked Miami in the ACC Championship? I don't see them dropping Miami out. As it stands now, if we were to lose (I think we're going 12-0 by the way), we'd fall behind ND, BYU, and Alabama. In that scenario, we're out. What am I missing?
Have you stopped to think how ESPN assigns a probability to a selection process that has no explicit criteria and has never been done before? This is 13 people voting - anything can happen, so I wouldn't hang your hat on that number.
I
you’re not missing anything there. The biggest threat IU has to the CFP right now is in the form of championship game upsets in other conferences
Coincidently, Joe Fortenbaugh just put his 2 cents in on this scenario on ESPN Bet LIve. He said if IU doesn't win out, they will not make the CFP. Says the committee does not want them to get in. He likes taking the Hoosiers not to make the CFP at +170.
I don't think he has any inside knowledge - just posted to show that the overconfidence here is not shared by everyone.
I don't think he has any inside knowledge - just posted to show that the overconfidence here is not shared by everyone.
Yep. The confidence people are getting from the ESPN Playoff predictor thing is very misguided.
That's not true. We beat Michigan, lose at OSU, beat Purdue, we are in. (At least, 90% chance of being in.)
This thread is moot now. We will be in an agreement with the SEC to schedule 1 ooc game each year. The schedule will remain this way and I expect us to cancel the ND home and home because of it. Things are changing. Sucks but there is no need in 2 games like this. Matter of fact it would be stupid to play both games with so much on the line.
It's not. The only way an 11-1 IU team whose only loss is to Ohio State doesn't get in is if there are multiple upsets in the conference championships. And even then I'm not sure it happens. BYU is currently BEHIND IU in the rankings. I'm not sure a 12-1 BYU team gets in over an 11-1 IU team. The teams behind IU right outside the cut line (LSU, Ole Miss, TAMU) all have 2 losses and are all expected to lose again. No 3 loss SEC team is jumping a 1 loss Big Ten team regardless of the name on their jersey.
This is correct. I posted this earlier in a different thread, but it seemed relevant here:
There's a small chance we could get left out at 11-1. At 11-1 we are getting in unless these specific, multiple scenarios play out:
- SMU runs the table and beats an undefeated Miami in the ACC championship
- BYU loses the B12 championship game, and at 12-1 with a win over SMU, they get ranked above IU
- TX A&M wins out and wins the SEC championship game
- GA, Bama, TN, & TX all finish with 2 losses
I agree with all this but that's far from a "reasonable" chance which the OP stated to be the case. There is a reason why IU has nearly a 90% chance of making the playoff and it's because none of these scenarios are likely to happen, let alone all of them.
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Obviously, we'll have a lot clearer picture after this weekend.
Realistic outcomes that we should root for this weekend. I'm not going to include obvious ones like Florida State winning at Notre Dame, because that's very, very unlikely to happen. Really any one ranked in the top 15 or so, it helps IU if they lose.
-Georgia Tech to upset Miami. I actually took the points with Georgia Tech on this one. I think it'll be a good game.
-Georgia over Ole Miss. That would effectively eliminate Ole Miss, and keep Georgia on track for the SEC title game.
-Kansas over Iowa State. Spread is only 3. Game is at Kansas. ISU loss eliminates them from at large consideration.
-LSU over Bama. This one is a tough one. On one hand, another loss for Bama should eliminate them from at large consideration. But adding a win over Bama on to LSU's resume, and then not having an overly difficult last 3 games, makes them a big at large threat. I guess the good thing though, is this could be an at large elimination game. 1 less 2 loss SEC team is a good thing.
-Utah over BYU. Spread is only 2.5. Game is at Utah. Enormous rivalry game. Obviously eliminates BYU from at large consideration.
-Washington over PSU. I don't think this one is overly likely, but its probably the best chance for PSU to lose, out of their remaining 4 games. A 2nd loss for PSU, should eliminate them from at large consideration.
If NONE of these things above happen. Well its time to get a little more nervous. But even if 1 or 2 happen, IU's chances really start to solidify.
Vaguely remember hearing about this...
What's the plan? The conferences get together pre-season and cross-schedule based on seeding "pods"...kinda like the B10/ACC basketball thing?
I wonder if us and Kentucky can/would just tell the conferences we'll play each other?
I won't start to worry about anything until the Ohio State game is over, and may not be nervous at all unless Ohio State wins convincingly. I think there is a decent chance that IU passes both Penn State and Tennessee before traveling to Columbus. If IU beats down Michigan and Penn State struggles with a Washington team that IU beat with its backup QB, you could see those teams flip flop. There's no rhyme or reason why Penn State should be ranked above Indiana right now. Zero, nada, zilch. And that's some of the biggest blowback the committee received after the initial poll came out.
Also, Tennessee losing to Georgia in two weeks while IU is on bye would also propel the Hoosiers above Tennessee.
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It is not moot because the B1G/SEC arrangement has not yet been finalized. And even if/when it is, it will likely take several years to get implemented. Our OOC schedule next year is pathetic. We have 3 very difficult B1G road games next year. if we manage to go 10-2, we would likely not be in a comfortable position to make the CFP due to our OOC schedule.
If I were to put money on it, I'd guess that the B1G will cut back to 8 conference games vs. 9 to absorb an SEC game as an additional "major" game each year. In that case, I imagine we'll keep ND on the schedule while maintaining 2 pure cupcakes.
Right or wrong, I imagine the days of a all-major OOC are long gone.
Go look at some of those schedules from the 70s. Some were just brutal.
That's what the computers say. Unfortunately, the decision will be made by a group of people that are influenced by external factors.
I really appreciate you doing the research and laying it out like that. I obviously hope you are right, or that all of this is irrelevant anyway.
One thing we can definitely agree on is GO HOOSIERS!
I don’t know. It’s more likely the sec goes to 9. With expansion it doesn’t make sense to go to 8. Why in hell would a B1G or SEC school not do our model. Worked for Ohio state, Georgia, Michigan… I could go on. Sure one marquee matchup out of conference is fine but 2-3 is insanity.
With Cignetti's sudden burst of success, I'm sure Indiana may want to revise how they schedule the OOC games. I wouldn't make any moves just yet, though.
Everyone here knows that with Tom Allen coaching, the goal was 6-6 and hopefully a toilet bowl bid. That's why they bought out Louisville.
With Cignetti's success and what appears to be a very sustainable approach, they will have to cross that bridge. That said, look at Ohio State and their OOC schedule this year....You do the math....If the big boys are scheduling cupcakes, should Indiana schedule Tennessee or Kentucky or Louisville???
Everyone here knows that with Tom Allen coaching, the goal was 6-6 and hopefully a toilet bowl bid. That's why they bought out Louisville.
With Cignetti's success and what appears to be a very sustainable approach, they will have to cross that bridge. That said, look at Ohio State and their OOC schedule this year....You do the math....If the big boys are scheduling cupcakes, should Indiana schedule Tennessee or Kentucky or Louisville???
I disagree. The Notre Dame home-home was announced in the Spring of 2021. They entered the Louisville contract in 2015 during the CKW tenure but didn't cancel it until last year. And they've already got away games scheduled in coming years at Virginia & UCONN.
It seems to me that the school at least had ambitions for a stronger schedule coming off of CKW tickling the edge of success & 2019/2020 breakout years (or at least what we thought were).
I think they're going to probably head back in that direction, scheduling wise, but we shouldn't get too far out in front of our skis with it.
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