With spring practice out of the way and majority of roster reconstructions complete, it’s time to look ahead to rankings for the 2025 football season.
Indiana was nowhere to be found in any preseason models last year — human or computer.
But after an 11-2 season that included an 8-1 Big Ten record and a CFP appearance, the perception of IU football has changed dramatically under the direction of second-year head coach Curt Cignetti.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach published his “2025 post-spring Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings” on Thursday and slotted Indiana in as the preseason No. 17 team. If IU is ranked in the preseason AP top-25 released in August, it will be their first appearance in that preseason poll since 2021, and just the third time since 1969.
Here’s what Schlabach wrote about Indiana:
2025 outlook: The Hoosiers stunned the college football world by reaching the CFP in coach Curt Cignetti’s first season. And they’ve gone back into the transfer portal to fill some holes to try to run it back. Fernando Mendoza was one of the top quarterbacks in the portal after throwing for 3,004 yards with 16 touchdowns in 2024. Three transfers could start on the offensive line, and Makai Jackson and California transfer Jonathan Brady should help a solid receiver corps.
Hosea Wheeler and Dominique Ratcliff will anchor the middle of the defensive line, and Mikail Kamara’s return was a big boost for the defense. It’s going to be difficult for Indiana to match last season’s success, but its nonconference schedule (Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and FCS program Indiana State) gives it a chance to get off to a good start.
The Hoosiers will face three ranked teams in 2025 according to the ESPN projection, and they are all in Schlabach’s top-11: No. 1 Penn State, No. 8 Oregon and No. 11 Illinois.
Indiana will go on the road to face No. 1 Penn State and No. 8 Oregon, along with an Iowa team likely not far from the top-25. And they’ll host No. 11 Illinois in the Big Ten opener in mid-September.
Joining those ranked teams from the Big Ten are the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes at No. 5. 2025 will mark the first time since 2008 that IU and Ohio State do not meet during the regular season.
Indiana’s full 2025 schedule is as follows:
Aug. 30 – Old Dominion
Sept. 6 – Kennesaw State
Sept. 13 – Indiana State
BIG TEN:
Sept. 20 – vs. Illinois
Sept. 27 – at Iowa
Oct. 11 – at Oregon
Oct. 18 – vs. Michigan State
Oct. 25 – vs. UCLA
Nov. 1 – at Maryland
Nov. 8 – at Penn State
Nov. 15 – vs. Wisconsin
Nov. 29 – at Purdue
IU football: Position-by-position look at 2025 roster changes (UPDATE – WR Brady added via portal)
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