It was a new day for the Indiana Hoosiers football program during the 2025 college football season. Indiana finished with an 11-1 record during the regular season and snuck into the college football playoffs.
The Hoosiers were the 10th seed, but they lost to in-state foe, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Indiana showed a lot of hope for the future with head coach Curt Cignetti in his first year with the program after being the head coach of the James Madison Dukes. Cignetti has a chance to lead Indiana back to the postseason for the second consecutive season, but there is a chance that they could be hitting some road bumps along the way.
College Football Analyst Believes the Indiana Hoosiers Could Take a Massive Step Backwards In 2025
Indiana has a chance to build something special after finishing with an 11-1 record in 2024, but some believe that the Hoosiers could potentially take a major step backwards in 2025. Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports listed the best-case and worst-case scenario for this football program. Fornelli believes that the best-case scenario would be the Hoosiers would be them finishing with an 11-1 record once again and getting back to the postseason.
However, the worst-case scenario for this program will be them finishing with a 5-7 record during the 2025 season and this would be a major shock to Cignetti and this team. Fornelli said,
“The transfers don’t hit as well, and the Hoosiers find themselves struggling against a difficult road schedule that includes Iowa, Oregon and Penn State. They also drop a few home games to teams like Illinois and Wisconsin and go from the CFP in 2024 to missing a bowl in 2025.”
It would be extremely hard to believe that Indiana will finish the season with a 5-7 record. The Hoosiers will most likely start the 2025 season with a 3-0 record. They will be tested out of the gates in BIG10 Conference play against the Fighting Illini. If they can win that game, Indiana will be in good shape moving forward. If not, some questions will have to be answered.
Having to play the Ducks and the Nittany Lions on the road will no doubt be difficult for this program. Indiana struggled when they had to go on the road during the 2024 season against the Ohio State Buckeyes and also when they faced the Fighting Irish on the road in the postseason.
One player that the Hoosiers will be riding on is Fernando Mendoza, who will be the starting quarterback for this football team after he transferred from the California Golden Bears. Kurtis Rourke was the starting quarterback for Indiana in 2024, and he had a solid season. Mendoza has a chance to be one of the top quarterbacks selected in the 2026 NFL Draft.
If he plays at a high level, it will feel slim that they finish with a 5-7 record. It is more likely they will be an 8-4 team and play in a bowl game rather than finishing under .500 and missing a bowl game entirely. It will be interesting to see if Cignetti can make this program into a contender for the long haul with questions about the program entering the 2025 college football season.
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