IU football: Hoosiers headed to Outback Bowl to play Ole Miss | No. 11 in final CFP rankings

There will be no New Year’s Six bowl game for Indiana this year.

But for the first time ever, IU will play in back-to-back January postseason contests.

Indiana will face Ole Miss (4-5) at the Outback Bowl on Jan. 2 in Tampa.  The game will kick-off at 12:30 p.m. ET at Raymond James Stadium and will be televised on ABC.

IT’S OFFICIAL!!!! @IndianaFootball and @OleMissFB are headed to the 2021 #Outbackbowl January 2nd! 🎆🏈🌴

Hope to see you all there to start off the New Year with some #Footballinparadise! Get your tickets now in the link!https://t.co/4Vx4TTN6GO pic.twitter.com/YBoE5ooBRZ

— ReliaQuest Bowl (@ReliaQuestBowl) December 20, 2020

It will be a homecoming for around 20 players, and head coach Tom Allen will face a program he once coached as a defensive assistant.

“It is a tremendous honor to play in the 35th Outback Bowl against a great opponent in Ole Miss,” Allen said in a release. “Our players, coaching staff, medical staff and everyone associated with our team worked hard to navigate through this difficult season, and I am so happy everyone is getting rewarded for their efforts. Making our second-straight January bowl game shows where we are at as a program, and we are not done yet. We look forward to one more opportunity to represent Hoosier Nation! LEO.”

Ole Miss finished the season with a 4-5 record.  Their losses came against Alabama, Florida, LSU, Arkansas and Auburn, and the wins were against Kentucky, Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Mississippi State.

Ole Miss’ high powered offense has scored more than 50 points in 3 of its last 4 games.  Indiana’s defense only allowed one touchdown total in its last three wins.

Indiana (6-1) was ranked lower than three-loss Iowa State in the CFP rankings.  The Cyclones are headed to the New Year’s Six Fiesta Bowl despite a loss to Louisiana.

IU has not played since a win over Wisconsin on Dec. 5.  Indiana paused all football activities just a couple days later due to 28 positive cases of COVID-19 within the program.

Head coach Tom Allen said his team will be ready to go for the bowl game despite the outbreak.

Their efforts got a boost by a new Big Ten rule that broke today.

According to an ESPN report on Sunday, Big Ten players in all sports who have tested positive for COVID-19 will be required to miss a minimum of 17 days, a reduction from 21 days.

A limited number of tickets are expected to be sold for the Outback Bowl.

Watch:  Tom Allen discusses invite to Outback Bowl

✈️ 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗧𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮, 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮
#IUFB | @OutbackBowl pic.twitter.com/q3v0OiMFol

— Indiana Football (@IndianaFootball) December 20, 2020

INDIANA’S BOWL GAME HISTORY

The Hoosiers will be attempting to win their first bowl game since a 1991 win over Baylor at the Copper Bowl.

Below is Indiana’s complete bowl game history.  IU has a 3-9 all-time record in the postseason.

• 1967 – Rose Bowl (loss to Southern California)
• 1979 – Holiday Bowl (win vs. Brigham Young)
• 1986 – All-American Bowl (loss to Florida State)
• 1987 – Peach Bowl (loss to Tennessee)
• 1988 – Liberty Bowl (win vs. South Carolina)
• 1990 – Peach Bowl (loss to Auburn)
• 1991 – Copper Bowl (win vs. Baylor)
• 1993 – Independence Bowl (loss to Virginia Tech)
• 2007 – Insight Bowl (loss to Oklahoma State)
• 2015 – Pinstripe Bowl (loss to Duke)
• 2016 – Foster Farms Bowl (loss to Utah)
• 2019 – Gator Bowl (loss to Tennessee)

HOOSIERS No. 11 IN FINAL CFP RANKINGS

Indiana remained unchanged at No. 11 in the final CFP rankings.

1 Alabama 11-0
2 Clemson 10-1
3 Ohio State 6-0
4 Notre Dame 10-1
5 Texas A&M 8-1
6 Oklahoma 8-2
7 Florida 8-3
8 Cincinnati 9-0
9 Georgia 7-2
10 Iowa State 8-3
11 Indiana 6-1
12 Coastal Carolina 11-0
13 North Carolina 8-3
14 Northwestern 6-2
15 Iowa 6-2
16 BYU 10-1
17 Southern Cal 5-1
18 Miami (Fla.) 8-2
19 Louisiana 9-1
20 Texas 6-3
21 Oklahoma State 7-3
22 San Jose State 7-0
23 NC State 8-3
24 Tulsa 6-2
25 Oregon 4-2

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