iubhounds

A friendly request. Indiana is only IU, UI is our hated neighbor Illinois ... 😎

On X (twitter) I told Miami fans their team's DNA was turnovers, penalties and strange coaching decisions. That would lead them to lose a tight game. As an IU fan I was not feeling good when they were getting big chunks of yardage at the end of the game. I told my sleeping dog "we might have blown this game" ... luckily the kid that got his butt chewed out on national tv in Eugene made the interception. A 20 year old true Junior.

There is no reason the Oregon at Ohio State game cannot be prime time 7:30pm ET game. I see that as the only possible loss for Oregon in the 2026 regular season. Of course based on my helmet icon the Ohio State at Indiana game will be my favorite. BOTH will be fantastic games to watch.

I would think the Ducks are the odds on favorite to win the national title in 2026. The Natty game is a week later next year, with the same number of teams. Why? More time off? I honestly don't know the answer for that. IU had the time off figured out before their first playoff game but I am still not sure it is better than playing as soon as you can, which means it is best NOT TO play in the B10 championship game. All teams change and the B10 schedule is going to be a dog fight for everyone. Oregon, Ohio State, Indiana and I'll even add Michigan since Whittingham is now their coach, will be the B10 Champion. IMO Oregon has no excuses for 2026 to win it all.

With ND's arrogance, we live with it back here in Indiana, they will never join a conference unless THEY get to choose which conference teams they play or how many they play. They are begging so much to stay independent they HAVE TO have their hockey team play in the B10 just to have a place to play. They have never wanted to share tv money (NBC forever). Might be able to find it on YouTube but Jon Gruden had a great video after Selection Sunday on his idea for a 16 team playoff and how to do it.

Yes IU is losing a few star players but Cignetti has reloaded. On3 ranks their portal class #1, not as good as Oregon's recruiting classes but he has had better classes each year, the three best in the history of IU. There were many true freshman got experience in blow out games, some actually started. For example that #28 that had two long runs at the end of the Oregon game is a true freshman and has not transferred. Interesting story about Hoover the QB coming from TCU. He was a verbal commit for Tom Allen in 2022. He backed out before the National Signing Day in 2021 and decided to play back home where Sonny Dykes had been hired at TCU. IU was predicted to be 6-6 for the year and 3-6 in the B10 this year. Their players were ranked last in the B10. I will say though looking at their 2026 schedule, like all other top B10 teams, it's tough and each of those teams have 2-4 games they could lose. So your prediction COULD be right. Based on the improvement I have seen for two years from week to week and their coaching philosophy's I don't see them losing 4 games or even 3 ... yet I could see them lose 2 games like they almost did this year. Ohio State at home will still be brutal, a battle. At Michigan will be interesting just because one of my favorite coaches is there, Whittingham. USC at home I still lean toward an IU win. At Washington ... hard game to figure out with the chaos in Seattle this off season. I would like Oregon to become like a rivalry game with IU. I'd like to see them play each other every year but the B10 scheduling computers don't see it that way. Purdue will always be our hated in-state rival but an Oregon-IU rivalry would be good for the B10.

I can give you some insight on this. Mellancamp never attended college but was an IU fan growing up. In 1995 IU's fund raising was so poor for football they did not have enough funds to build an indoor practice facility like all the other B10 teams were doing. John came to the rescue and paid every dollar for it. As far as Mark Cuban, he did not donate any football money until this summer. By that time, the 2024 and 2025 teams were already paid for. Mark is an IU grad but was a HUGE Bob Knight fan. When IU fired Knight in 2000 he swore he would never give a dime to IU whenever approached. He only gave money to "the club sport of Rugby", a team on which he played on in college. This summer he met Cignetti for the first time ever. Not only did they find out they were both from Western PA but they were also born in the same hospital. So really Mark did not get involved financially with football until right before this last season after all the 2025 NIL deals had been signed and delivered.

There were five JMU player that started this year. It will make a difference in their leadership and their 2025 performance. Yet IU returns 12 of 22 starting players. Only their center on the OL is gone. Those other 4 OLs were recruited by IU. They have a strong RB room coming back along with 1 portal transfer built the same as the two RBs you saw this year. You might think they lose a lot at WR but Charlie Becker was only a true Sophomore. A portal transfer from Michigan, their #2 WR in 2024, tore his ACL and did not play this year. He is at full strength and practicing during the playoff weeks. They also will have an All-B10 WR from Michigan State from the portal, Nick Marsh. More speed coming off the bench that were true freshmen this year. As far as tv goes ... I think tv stations should adjust their schedules during the year based on what teams are doing. Granted the logistics might be a problem but they own their stations and can fill time slots when needed. I want to see more of the top of the B10 matchups in prime time ET. A Wisconsin vs Northwestern on a Saturday prime time does nothing for this football addict. One big difference for IU in 2026, but I am not sure it will matter Cignetti's process ... they will now be the hunted and not the hunter. They along with Oregon, Michigan, Ohio State will be their opponents Super Bowl.

The high Monday was 11° where I live in Indiana. From the ground to the porch is 30" ... solid snow The English Bulldog statue is sitting on the porch.