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 an IU player.
Ahead of the 2025 campaign, Mendoza had odds ranging from 50/1 to 75/1 across six well known national sports books.
In 2024, various sports books listed Kurtis Rourke with anywhere from 150/1 to 300/1 odds to hoist the coveted hardware in New York.
Hoover is behind five players and tied with three more in the 2026 Heisman odds. Here’s the average or “consensus” of the Heisman odds in early May:
- CJ Carr, Notre Dame: 7.5/1
- Arch Manning, Texas: 7.7/1
- Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss: 10/1
- Julian Sayin, Ohio State: 11/1
- Dante Moore, Oregon: 11/1
- Darian Mensah, Miami (Fla.): 12/1
- Josh Hoover, Indiana: 12/1
- Jeremiah Smith: Ohio State: 12/1
But wait, there’s more.
Indiana’s emergence as a national power has put other players beyond quarterback on the Heisman radar this spring.
Wideouts Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh are 187/1 and 200/1 on average, respectively, and running back Turbo Richard is 300/1. Both Becker and Marsh are getting early first round projections in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Non-quarterback winners are rare, but two of the last six have been players other than a QB.
A repeat Heisman win by an Indiana player would be just sixth such accomplishment by a team all-time if you include USC’s later vacated 2005 win. Alabama was the last school to do it in 2021.
Here are the seven former Hoosiers who have finished in the top-10 in the Heisman voting:
- Bill Hillenbrand — fifth in 1942
- Anthony Thompson — second in 1989
- Vaughn Dunbar — sixth in 1991
- Antwaan Randle El — sixth in 2001
- Tevin Coleman — seventh in 2014
- Kurtis Rourke — ninth in 2024
- Fernando Mendoza — winner in 2025
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