Indiana wants to build on the 14-7 record it has compiled over the last two seasons. But that won’t come easy.
Playing in the Big Ten East, IU expects to face a challenging divisional slate each season. But the Hoosiers were the only Big Ten East team to appear in PFF’s top ten most difficult 2021 schedules.
That means the rest of IU’s 2021 schedule is unforgiving too.
The two games that truly separate Indiana’s schedule come in the first three weeks. IU will have a pair of top-20 matchups in September.
The Hoosiers open the 2021 season on Sept. 4 at Iowa, a team with a legitimate chance to win the Big Ten West. The Hawkeyes finished the season No. 16 in the AP top-25, matching IU with a 6-2 record. Iowa returns its starting quarterback and first-team All-Big Ten running back among several starters that will be back
Indiana added a home-and-home series with Cincinnati in 2014, and those games didn’t appear to be quite so daunting at the time. But the Bearcats have won 31 games over the last three seasons, and like IU, are likely to open the 2021 season in the top-20. UC finished the 2020 season with a 9-1 record after a last-second loss to Georgia at the Peach Bowl.
IU also has Big Ten crossover games against West division foes Minnesota and Purdue, and they round out the nonconference slate with games against Idaho and Western Kentucky.
PFF’s top ten most difficult schedules were as follows.
- Arkansas
- Nebraska
- Georgia Tech
- Purdue
- South Carolina
- Mississippi State
- Indiana
- Auburn
- Ole Miss
- Florida State
To see Indiana’s 2021 schedule with dates, kickoff times and television designations, GO HERE.
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