Indiana Hoosiers 2025 College Football Preview
Posted August 3, 2025
2024 Recap
Record – 11-2
ATS – 10-3
WHOA, NELLIE.
We knew Indiana would be a tough team to handle last year, but they were REALLY good. They stormed out to a 9-0 start MUTILATING everything in their path by an average score of 47-14 (!) and then took down mighty Michigan (W 20-15) to move to an impossible 10-0. Ohio St roasted them the following week but the Hoosiers made the CFP and earned the right to tackle Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish were too much to handle in South Bend and they took down Indiana to end the dream season.
What can Indiana do for an encore in 2025?
Indiana Hoosiers 2025 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Hoosiers moved like a TREMENDOUS MACHINE last season and averaged a whopping 41 PPG (#2 FBS, Miami). There are some new faces on board this year but we LIKEY LIKEY the additions from the transfer portal. QB Fernando Mendoza has the potential to be a top-five QB in the Big Ten after doing some fine work with Cal over the L2Y (30-16 TD to INT, 3000+ LY) and he gets to work with Indiana’s deadly WR combo in Elijah Sarratt (957, 18.1, 8 TD) and Omar Cooper Jr (594, 21.2, 7 TD). The HITS KEEP COMING when you consider that Indiana added WR Makai Jackson (745, 5 TD, App St LY) and TE Holden Staes from Tennessee who has breakout potential in 2025. Indiana did a phenomenal job in the portal replacing their top-two RBs from LY (Ellison, Lawton, combined 22 rush TD) by adding veteran #1 RB Roman Hemby from Maryland (607, 6 TD LY, 22 career rush TD) and Lee Beebe from UAB (885, 7 TD LY). Four starters return up front and the Hoosiers appear to have one of the best offensive lines in the Big Ten. It’ll be impossible to match LY’s scoring output but this is still one of the best offenses in the conference.
DEFENSE
“Holy schnikes!”
<Tommy Callahan>
<Tommy Boy>
The Hoosiers played phenomenal defense LY (15.6 PPG, #6) and they were an absolute brick wall vs the run (80 YPG, #1 FBS!). Indiana boasted an impossibly impossible THREE All-Americans on defense and all three of those guys are back this season. LB Aiden Fisher led the team in tackles (118), DE/LB Mikail Kamara tied for 5th in nation with 10 sacks, and D’Angelo Ponds was a lockdown CB. In addition to that insane TRIUMVIRATE the Hoosiers added several players likely to become key contributors this year such as star NG Hosea Wheeler (WKU), LB Devan Boykin (NC St), and safety Louis Moore (Ole Miss LY; 82 tackles, 3 INT in 2023 with Indiana). We expect good things from the Indiana defense once again this year.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The kicking game is in good shape with the return of PK Nico Radicic (10/11 FG, 69/69 XP! LY) and the addition of punter Mitch McCarthy (UCF) but they’ll need to find new primary return men.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – The Hoosiers are a MORTAL LOCK to start the season 3-0 **** but their first three Big Ten games are nasty (Illinois, at Iowa, at Oregon). The good news is that the last six conference games are very palatable other than the road trip to Penn St on Nov 8th.
**** Potentially by a combined score of 198-3.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Nothing heinous is noted.
Season Win Total
Market consensus – August 3
Over 8.5 +110
Under 8.5 -140
MEGALOCKS says:
No leanage
This is a tough call. The roster looks just as good as last year’s but the schedule is much more challenging. Eight or nine wins looks about right. GUN to the HEAD selection would be the ‘over’.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
“He’ll kill you, then he’ll go to work on you.”
<Reuben Tishkoff>
<Oceans Eleven>
Head coach Curt Cignetti has been an absolute killer vs the spread during his time with James Madison and Indiana. Cignetti is 25-11 ATS (69%) including 18-7 ATS (72%) in conference play and a sparkling 9-2 ATS as a road favorite (82%).
Indiana was the first team to become bowl eligible last year when they beat Northwestern to move to 6-0.
The Hoosiers have dropped six bowl games in a row and haven’t tasted victory since the thrilling edition of the 1991 (!) Copper Bowl when they smoked Baylor 24-CACK.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
It seems to us that anyone hoping for a sharp reversal in the suddenly improved fortunes of Indiana football is going to be very disappointed. The Hoosiers are loaded on both sides of the football but there’s no doubt they’ll face a much stiffer level of competition during the regular season this year. The floor for this squad is very high and we’ll call for nine wins and give them a PUNCHER’S CHANCE to make it back to the College Football Playoff in 2025.
Good luck to the Hoosiers and the GREAT STATE of INDIANA!