Designing the nonconference schedule for IU football is a delicate art with competing interests.
On the one hand, you want to have enticing games that draw fans.
On the other hand, with nine Big Ten conference games each year, and Indiana trying to ensure bowl eligibility as the floor, the program can’t afford to make the three nonconference contests too challenging.
The solution seems to be a hybrid approach, with a couple winnable games on paper, and a more challenging game each year.
With the news yesterday that IU has scheduled a game against UMass five years from now, all of their nonconference opponents are known through 2027.
Indiana generally has one Power Five opponent each year, with the other two games coming from the FCS or Group of Five ranks.
That approach, coupled with the expected elimination of divisions in the Big Ten should help IU have a more sustainable chance of posting at least six wins each year.
Here are all of the nonconference games IU has scheduled through 2031.
2022
9.10 – Idaho
9.17 – Western Kentucky
9.24 – at Cincinnati
2023
9.9 – Indiana State
9.16 – vs. Louisville @ Lucas Oil Stadium
9.23 – Akron
2024
8.31 – Florida International
9.7 – at Louisville
9.21 – Charlotte
2025
8.30 – Old Dominion
9.6 – Louisville
9.13 – Indiana State
2026
9.5 – Colorado State
9.12 – Ball State
9.26 – at Connecticut
2027
9.4 – at Virginia
9.11 – Indiana State
9.18 – UMass
2028
9.16 – Virginia
2029
9.15 – Western Kentucky
2030
8.31 – at Notre Dame
2031
9.27 – Notre Dame
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