How Indiana Hoosiers football can get back on track in 2024

That brings us to Michigan and OSU, Indiana’s two biggest threats for obvious reasons

Now for the biggest fish in the pond. Pairing Michigan with Ohio State gives you the toughest Big Ten duo possible, so I’m going to be straight-up before I say another word: The Hoosiers have what I would spitball as a 3% chance of downing just one of these giants, which urges me to issue the simple reminder that none of these conference games have been mentioned out of some passionate belief that Indiana will win them.

Rather, they are relevant solely out of Indiana’s potential to win them, and when holding its odds of doing so this year next to those of any other year (in either recent memory or the foreseeable future), both the Michigan and OSU games stand out as belonging in this conversation—but especially the Michigan one.

The Wolverines find themselves in a situation nearly identical to Washington’s, having lost not only handfuls of talent on both sides of the ball, but also their incredible head coach.

While I don’t think the departures will leave Michigan football in some atrocious condition, they’ll make Indiana’s shot at victory considerably easier than the one they had last year against the eventual national champ. Oh, and be sure to remember the fact that the Wolverines will be heading to Bloomington right after taking on Oregon; that can’t hurt.

Speaking of the Wolverines and how placement on a schedule matters, we have Ohio State’s meeting with Indiana in Week 12, also known as the one right before rivalry week.

What that means for the Buckeyes is that they won’t just be enduring the Hoosiers after somewhat struggling with them last year and losing their own share of playmakers, but will be doing so right before “The Game,” which is annually one of college football’s biggest showdowns (and one they’ve been on the losing end of for three years straight). Yeah, that won’t have them overlooking Indiana at all.

Again, this entire rant runs a high risk of being totally pointless; Curt Cignetti could need some serious time to make a sizable impact, the new faces on these teams could handle IU without flinching, and the Hoosiers could add another year to their unholy rut. However, the memo still stands: If they can’t get something cooking with the abundance of stars 2024 has aligned in their favor, I have no confidence they can with whatever the years that follow will have in store.