Author: Mike Schumann

With rosters still in a state of fluctuation, it’s remains a bit too early to be talking about preseason rankings for the next college basketball season. But the first look at 2026-27 from an analytical perspective proved to be irresistible. Popular college basketball analytics site barttorvik.com published its first 2026-27 projections based on what we know about rosters to this point. Indiana is ranked 25th overall in Torvik’s 2026-27 projection, with the No. 18 offense and No. 38 defense.  That’s good for seventh in the Big Ten, behind Michigan (No. 2), Michigan State (No. 7), Illinois (No. 13), Nebraska (No.…

A year ago the idea of an IU football player winning the Heisman Trophy still seemed a bit far fetched, even with the program trending in the right direction. Now and for the foreseeable future?  Why not? Following Fernando Mendoza’s first-ever Heisman win by an IU player, the IU quarterback is likely to be among the leading contenders going into each season. And that’s the case in 2026. TCU transfer Josh Hoover is hovering around 12/1 odds on average across multiple books to win the Heisman in 2026.  Those are the best preseason odds we’ve seen in recent years for…

Most of Fernando Mendoza’s greatest accomplishment at Indiana came very soon after adversity. He threw fourth quarter interceptions at Iowa, Oregon and Penn State — and led game winning drives after all of them. Mendoza also demonstrated on multiple occasions he could take a big hit, pop right back up, and play even better. The entire team seemed to rally around Mendoza when he took a wicked hit at Iowa along the sidelines and didn’t miss a beat.  And he quickly shook off bone-jarring shots in the Big Ten and national championship games to lead IU to victory. Mendoza has…

The rise of Indiana under Curt Cignetti overlaps almost perfectly with the fall of Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State. Cignetti came to the program with the most losses in the history of college football and the most losing seasons since 2000, and immediately went 27-2 and won a national title. Gundy had 18-straight winning seasons and 18-straight bowl appearances.  He had four seasons of 10 or more wins and two conference titles.  But Gundy was just  4-11 over the last two seasons.  He was fired midseason in 2025 after a 1-2 start. The rise of Indiana and the fall of…

Curt Cignetti has turned down a lot of speaking engagements and appearances offered since he led Indiana to the national championship. But he couldn’t say no to driving the pace car at the Indy 500. “It’s a great event, and it’s part of the fabric of the state,” Cignetti told Anthony Calhoun of WISH TV.  “I can remember watching the Indy 500 growing up.  I just hope I can handle it.” The car Cignetti will be handling is a Corvette ZR1x, known as America’s quickest production car. “America’s hypercar will be front and center at the Indianapolis 500, and it…

Which 2026 games present the biggest obstacles to an IU football program intent on a third-straight appearance in the College Football Playoff? The Hoosiers should have a good chance for a fast start as they put the nation’s longest overall winning streak, and the longest home winning streak, on the line. Below we rank each of their 12 games from easiest to hardest. vs. Howard, Sept. 12 The combined score of Indiana’s last two games against an FCS opponent is 150-3, and there’s not much reason to expect a significantly different outcome this time around.  Howard is by no means…

Each of the last two years, Curt Cignetti has said publicly the program didn’t lose anyone to the transfer portal it was trying to retain. That’s a bit of a harsh statement at the surface, but when you drill down a bit it also looks like an honest assessment. But Cignetti had to stop himself after uttering the statement last week. There was one member of the 2025 squad lost to the portal he wanted back. “We retained everybody we wanted to retain,” Cignetti said on the Andy and Ari podcast.  “We didn’t lose anybody we didn’t want to lose.…

Indiana has completed spring practice and now turns the page to summer workouts and the start of fall camp in early August. What does the IU depth chart look like for the reigning national champs? Here’s an estimation of where things stand for the defense. In case you missed it, here’s where we believe things stand with the offense. ————————————— DEFENSIVE TACKLE 1s – Tyrique Tucker, Mario Landino 2s – Joe Hjelle, Several There is no more heavily rotated position than defensive tackle, so all of the ones and twos and beyond will see significant action.  The early nod goes…

The class of 2027 has a chance to be the greatest of all-time for IU football. And why shouldn’t it be?  The Hoosiers have gone 27-2 over the last two years, with consecutive College Football Playoff appearances including a 16-0 national championship campaign. The unprecedented success orchestrated by head coach Curt Cignetti has forced everyone to reexamine what they think they know about Indiana. And that includes high school recruiting prospects. One of the top targets on the 2027 board is 5-star in-state wide receiver Monshun Sales.  The 6-foot-5 and 205-pound standout is the No. 1 overall ranked receiver in…

After no first round picks for more than 30 years, could IU football see multiple first round selections in back-to-back years? Could the Hoosiers tie or break records just set in 2026 with two or even three first round selections in the 2027 NFL Draft? There’s a long way to go to next year’s draft, and much will change between now and then.  So chalk this up to pure entertainment at this point. But here’s what some outlets are thinking as it relates to IU football players one year out from the 2027 NFL Draft. Three players on the 2026…