2026 College Football Playoff

 

For the second year in a row Indiana punched its ticket for the national college football playoff this year as the #1 seed. After winning the Big Ten Conference championship over Ohio State the Hoosiers closed out the season as the undisputed Big Ten Champion finishing first in the national poll for first time in program history. 

The Hoosiers will play the winners of #8 Oklahoma vs #9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA for the quarterfinals. 

 It's been a fifty-eight-year drought since the Hoosiers have played in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. 

Bracket image copyright AP news 

Big Ten Championship

 

12-0 Ohio State ranked #1 in the country would face off against the 12-0 Indiana Hoosiers ranked #2 for the outright Big Ten Title at Lucus Oil Stadium. The winner would almost certainly earn the No. 1 seed in the College Football Championship with seedings to be announced the next day. 

This would be only the third time with a #1 v #2 national matchup in Big Ten History. 

1985 would pit #1 Iowa v #2 Michigan 

2006 would pit #1 Ohio State v #2 Michigan

The Hoosiers would enter the contest a seven-point underdog. 

Fernando Mendoza made all the big plays. Then his Hoosiers teammates and their fans celebrated like it was 1967and 1945.

Mendoza’s neatly tucked 17-yard pass to Elijah Sarratt gave the No. 2 Hoosiers the lead they needed and the defense shut down No. 1 Ohio State the rest of the way in a 13-10 win for their first Big Ten title in nearly half a century while likely locking up the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.

 Mendoza was injured on the first offensive play of the game but returned after missing one play and went 15 of 23 for 222 yards and the one TD and one interception. Sayin had his ankle retaped in the second quarter and was 21 of 29 for 258 yards, one TD and one interception.

Indiana took a 3-0 lead after Sayin was picked off in the first quarter, but the Buckeyes turned Mendoza’s miscue into a 17-yard TD pass to Carnell Tate for a 7-3 lead late in the quarter.

The teams traded field goals in the second quarter as the Buckeyes took a 10-6 lead, but Mendoza neatly tucked a TD pass into Sarratt near the sideline on Indiana’s first possession of the third quarter and that was all they needed.

The Hoosiers showed everyone why they’re no longer taking a backseat to the Buckeyes or anyone else in college football. Defensively, they were as stingy as ever. Offensively, they moved the ball and played keep away — and did just enough for an historic victory.

Sources:

The Helmet Project found here: http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/index.htm

Photo © The B1G Network http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums

Game summary © ESPN

IU @ Purdue

Kaelon Black had two touchdown runs and Fernando Mendoza and Roman Hemby each ran for scores as No. 2 Indiana beat rival Purdue 56-3 on Friday night, completing the first perfect regular season in school history and securing a Big Ten championship game berth.

The Hoosiers (12-0, 9-0, No. 2 CFP) also likely locked up a second straight College Football Playoff berth.

 Curt Cignetti became the first Hoosiers coach since Bo McMillin in 1934-35 to win his first two matchups against Purdue.

Purdue (2-10, 0-9) endured more misery in the coldest game ever played at Ross-Ade Stadium, with a kickoff temperature of 24 degrees Fahrenheit. The Boilermakers closed coach Barry Odom's first season with a 10th straight loss and posted their second straight winless season in conference play, the first since 1919-20.

Many wondered if the Hoosiers would be one-hit wonders after last year's historic season. But Cignetti promised there would be no decline in 2025 — and there wasn't. With the nation's second-best scoring offense and scoring defense, a Heisman Trophy front-runner and a perfect record, the Hoosiers are better positioned to make a playoff run than they were last year.

Sources:

The Helmet Project found here:

http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/index.htm

Photo © The B1G Network

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums

espn game recap 

2025 Bucket Game

The 2025 Bucket Game
The #127 meeting
Indiana and Purdue
The Battle for the Old Oaken Bucket
For the #100 time!
Bring It!

Yet another record

 

Indiana now owns the longest home winning streak in major college football. The Hoosiers have won fifteen home games in a row, the best in the nation.

Photos copyright Indiana University Athletics 

Wisconsin

 

This would be the last home stand for a few seniors who had made the jump to follow coach Curt Cinetti. Slightly and rarely recruited Cignetti saw their potential in himself and with them. Coming from James Madison Coach Cig brought a nucleus of players with him to Indiana with the mindset that that production beats probability.

The Hoosiers would improve to a program first 11-0 with a 31-7 victory over Wisconsin. For the game Fernando Mendoza would finish with 299 total yards completing 22 of 24 passes. His fourth touchdown pass would place him in first place with 30 touchdown passes in a single season surpassing Kurtis Rourke’s 29 in 2024.

The defense would hand the offensive the ball in excellent field position. A forced fumble by Stephen Daley, recovered by Hosea Wheeler at the Wisconsin 21-yard line, set up the Hoosiers next score. This turnover led to a 21-yard TD pass from Mendoza to Riley Nowakowski, a Wisconsin transfer, extending the Hoosier's lead.  For the season 96 points would be scored off turnovers. 

Sources:
The Helmet Project found here:
http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/index.htm
Photo © The B1G Network
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums
Game summary © ESPN 

@ Penn State

 

The Hoosiers would take on the Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium at University Park PA with a noon ET kickoff.

The Nittany Lions, who in the pre-season were ranked #2 in the country and were considered legitimate contenders for a national championship, found themselves 3-5 for the season and 0-5 in B1G play. Three games into the Big Ten season Penn State had parted ways with coach James Franklin as backers had grown impatient with his overall Big Ten performance. Franklin’s $49 million buyout would be the second largest in college football history, only behind Jimbo Fisher’s $76 million Texas A & M payout.  

The Hoosiers would enter the contest having never won at Bever Stadium in Happy Valley.

There had been close calls, but usually it had been a house of horrors. 

It all came down to a third and goal at the Penn State 7-yard line with 0:36 remaining in the game. Omar Cooper Jr. jumped to catch a pass from Fernando Mendoza in the back of the end zone, sweeping his inside foot within inches of the field of play to go ahead 27-24 to save the No 2 Hoosiers from their first loss of the season.  

“It was the most improbable victory I have ever been a part of,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said. “And there have been a better place to make it happen.”

The Hoosiers improved to 10-0 for the season and remained ranked #2 in the country. 

Sources:

The Helmet Project found here:

http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/index.htm

Photo © The B1G Network and ESPN

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums

Game summary © ESPN 

@ Maryland

 

Fernando Mendoza threw for a touchdown and ran for one, and No. 2 Indiana remained undefeated with a 55-10 rout of Maryland.

Mendoza recovered from an early interception, and he also had to play most of the game without his top target. Star receiver Elijah Sarratt left in the first quarter with hamstring tightness, ending his nation-leading streak of 46 consecutive games with a catch.

Still, this was another one-sided game for the Hoosiers (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten), who since winning at Oregon have added victories over Michigan State, UCLA and Maryland by a combined 120 points.

Indiana outrushed Maryland 367-37.

Roman Hemby, who transferred from Maryland to Indiana, ran for 88 yards on 18 carries against his old team. Black rushed for 110 yards and Martin added 80.

Sources:
The Helmet Project found here:
http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/index.htm
Photo © The B1G Network
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums
Game summary © ESPN 

UCLA

 

On the second play of the game Aiden Fisher intercepted the first pass of the game and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown and the Mendoza brothers — Fernando and Alberto — each ran for scores as No. 2 Indiana routed UCLA 56-6.

The Hoosiers extended their school-record home winning streak to 14, protected the highest ranking in school history for the second straight week and now open a second straight November with a perfect record.

Fernando Mendoza was 15 of 22 for 168 yards, three TDs and one interception before leaving late in the third quarter as he was serenaded again with chants of “Heismendoza" from the student section. Roman Hemby finished with 17 carries, 81 yards and two scores while Kaelon Black rushed 10 times for 70 yards. E.J. Williams Jr. had five catches for 109 yards and two scores as Indiana outgained UCLA 475-201 in total yards.

After Fisher's interception 57 seconds into the game, the Hoosiers pulled away on Hemby's 1-yard TD run late in the first quarter and a second-quarter flurry that began with Elijah Sarratt's 1-yard TD catch, continued with Hemby's 13-yard run and ended with Williams' 2-yard TD catch to make it 35-3.

Indiana sealed it with Fernando Mendoza's nifty 20-yard scoring run, Williams' 62-yard catch and Alberto Mendoza's 4-yard run early in the fourth.

Sources:

The Helmet Project found here:

http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/index.htm

Photo © The B1G Network

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums

Game summary © ESPN 

Michigan State

 

Another rivalry between the Hoosiers and the Spartans dating back to 1950.

The day prior Curt Cignetti signed an extension to his contract for $11.2 million making him the third highest paid coach in the country. What precipitated the move was the firing of Penn State coach James Franklin who was fired after going 0-3 in the Big Ten. The extension would keep Cignetti in Bloomington for the foreseeable future.

The Hoosiers would climb to #3 nationally, the highest placement in program history and would walk away with a 38-13 Homecoming victory to reach 7-0 for the season.

Fernando Mendoza would pass for 24/28 and four touchdowns while Kealon Black would rush for 64 yards on ten carries and a score.  

Sources:

The Helmet Project found here:

http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/index.htm

Photo © The B1G Network

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums

Game summary © ESPN 

@ Oregon

 

The Hoosiers would become bowl eligible with a 30 – 20 victory over #3 Oregon. Fernando Mendoza would throw 215 yards and a key fourth-quarter touchdown to remain undefeated. 

In the 90 years since the AP poll began ranking teams weekly the Hoosiers have never beaten a top-five opponent on the road. They were 0-46 in such games, the most losses of any team in the country without a win.

With the win Indians snapped Oregon's

> 23-game regular season win streak - The longest active in FBS

> 18-game conference win streak -The 2nd longest active in FBS

> IU would rise to #3 in the AP Coaches Poll. The highest ranking in program history.

Sources:
The Helmet Project found here:
http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/index.htm
Photo © The B1G Network
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums
Game summary © ESPN 

@ Iowa

 

— Fernando Mendoza threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt with 1:28 to play to give No. 11 Indiana a 20-15 win over Iowa.

Indiana came into the game ranked second nationally in total offense and scoring offense, was held to 337 yards and its lowest scoring output of the season. But the Hoosiers got two touchdown passes from Mendoza, who threw for 233 yards, and two field goals from Nico Radicic.

Indiana took an early 7-0 lead. An interception by Amare Ferrell on the third offensive play of the game gave the Hoosiers the ball at Iowa's 24-yard line, and they quickly converted with Mendoza's 14-yard touchdown pass to Omar Cooper Jr.

After Indiana stopped Iowa on its final possession, Mendoza ran off the last seconds of the game by sprinting into the end zone, where he was tackled for a safety.

:

The Helmet Project found here:

http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/index.htm

Photo © The B1G Network

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums

Game summary © ESPN 

Illinois

 

The Illini would enter the game in the UP-Coach’s poll ranked #9 while the Hoosiers entered at #19.

Fernando Mendoza threw five touchdown passes and D'Angelo Ponds scooped up the punt he blocked and returned it 11 yards for a score, leading  Indiana past Illinois 63-10 for its first win over a top 10 foe in five years — and easily the most lopsided.

Indiana's previous best was a 31-10 victory at then No. 9 Ohio State in 1987. It marked the first time since 1950 the Hoosiers and Fighting Illini squared off with each ranked. 

The Fighting Illini offense struggled as quarterback Luke Altmeyer was under pressure all night. Illinois allowed five sacks and rushed for only 3 yards in the first half, falling into an insurmountable 35-10 deficit. Indiana sealed the win with TD drives on each of its first two second-half possessions.

It was the worst loss of coach Bret Bielema's tenure at Illinois and the worst for the Illini since a 63-0 rout at home against Iowa in 2018.

Sources:

The Helmet Project found here:

http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/index.htm

Photo © The B1G Network

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums

Game summary © ESPN 

IU v Indiana State

The Hoosiers would host the Sycamores for a rare Friday night lights game scheduled for a 6:30 pm kickoff scoring their largest shutout win since 1901 defeating the Sycamores 73-0

For the first half, Indiana scored touchdowns on six of seven actual possessions, while getting a field goal on the other. It was pure domination in every sense of the word, just as most expected it to be. 

Fernando Mendoza saw 19 of his 20 pass attempts caught by teammates, five of which went for touchdowns. Younger brother Alberto Mendoza was also able to get a good amount of playing time, completing 6 of 9 pass attempts for another 105 yards and two Hoosiers touchdowns.

Indian led the stat sheet with 33-5 first downs while Omar Cooper Jr. led the way with 10 Receptions, 207 Yards, and 4 Touchdowns. 

Sources:

The Helmet Project found here:

http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/index.htm

Photo © The B1G Network

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums

espn game recap