I've always wanted to like Indiana, but I have to admit, my feelings have soured since last year when my team beat their team and remained undefeated and clearly the best team in the conference, yet they spent about a month crying that they deserved to play for a Big Ten title instead.
However, I'm willing to put that behind me by way of returning Indiana to its rightful place: below mediocrity. And the good news is, the Hoosiers are already helping me out on that front this year!
Indiana started the season with expectations for probably the first time in my life, and it has been downhill since then.
I've heard the excuses – this offense isn't the same without Michael Penix, the defense is actually very good and talented, they've only lost to top-10 teams, etc. But really, none of them hold up.
Penix statistically was one of the worst Power Five quarterbacks in the country before his injury and Indiana's defense is the second-worst in the Big Ten despite playing anemic offenses like Iowa and Michigan State.
That last one, however, is true – they have only lost to good teams. But do you know what type of team loses every game it plays against a good opponent? Teams that aren't very good!
Folks, I'm here to tell you taht Indiana is simply not very good. This game is going to be a bloodbath. All is right in the world.
Word of the Day: Decimate.
GAMEDAY MENU. It seems like a rather unawesome slate of games today, which almost certainly means things are going to get nuts. Buckle up!
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TV/Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| #2 Cincinnati at Navy | 12:00pm | ESPN2 |
| NIU at Central Michigan | 12:00pm | ESPNU |
| UAPB at Arkansas | 12:00pm | SECN |
| UMass at Florida State | 12:00pm | ACCN |
| #16 Wake Forest at Army | 12:00pm | CBSSN |
| Illinois at #7 Penn State | 12:00pm | ABC |
| Northwestern at #6 Michigan | 12:00pm | FOX |
| Kansas State at Texas Tech | 12:00pm | FS1 |
| #3 Oklahoma at Kansas | 12:00pm | ESPN |
| Eastern Michigan at Bowling Green | 12:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Syracuse at Virginia Tech | 12:30pm | RSN/ESPN3 |
| Kent State at Ohio | 1:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Texas State at Georgia State | 2:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Wisconsin at #25 Purdue | 3:00pm | BTN |
| Buffalo at Akron | 3:30pm | ESPN+ |
| New Mexico at Wyoming | 3:30pm | Stadium |
| #10 Oregon at UCLA | 3:30pm | ABC |
| Colorado at California | 3:30pm | P12N |
| Western Michigan at Toledo | 3:30pm | CBSSN |
| Miami (Ohio) at Ball State | 3:30pm | ESPN+ |
| #8 Oklahoma State at Iowa State | 3:30pm | FOX |
| Clemson at #23 Pitt | 3:30pm | ESPN |
| Rice at UAB | 3:30pm | ESPN+ |
| LSU at #12 Ole Miss | 3:30pm | CBS |
| BYU at Washington State | 3:30pm | FS1 |
| Maryland at Minnesota | 3:30pm | ESPN2 |
| Liberty at North Texas | 4:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Mississippi State at Vanderbilt | 4:00pm | SECN |
| Boston College at Louisville | 4:00pm | ACCN |
| East Carolina at Houston | 4:00pm | ESPNU |
| South Alabama at ULM | 7:00pm | ESPN3 |
| #22 San Diego State at Air Force | 7:00pm | CBSSN |
| Nevada at Fresno State | 7:00pm | FS1 |
| #24 UTSA at Louisiana Tech | 7:00pm | Stadium |
| Temple at USF | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| WKU at FIU | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Tennessee at #4 Alabama | 7:00pm | ESPN |
| USC at #13 Notre Dame | 7:30pm | NBC |
| South Carolina at #17 Texas A&M | 7:30pm | SECN |
| Georgia Tech at Virginia | 7:30pm | ACCN |
| #18 NC State at Miami (FL) | 7:30pm | ESPN2 |
| #5 Ohio State at Indiana | 7:30pm | ABC |
| West Virginia at TCU | 7:30pm | ESPNU |
| Utah at Oregon State | 7:30pm | P12N |
| New Mexico State at Hawaii | 11:59pm | Spectrum PPV |
REVENGE GAME. I have terrible news for Indiana today – Ohio State is coming to Bloomington as both the far better team, and somehow also with a chip on its shoulder following last year's game.
“It did not feel good. Simple as that. It did not feel good,” Ohio State safety Ronnie Hickman said Wednesday. “It’s that kind of in between, you came out on top, but then you look at the stats and it’s a whole different story.”
To label a more convincing win in this year’s rematch “redemption” for the Buckeyes might be stretching things a bit, but Ohio State endured plenty of criticism for the performance a season ago – especially for the pass defense. Penix threw for 491 yards and five touchdowns against the Ohio State secondary in a game that set in motion the defensive skepticism that boiled over in this season’s Week 2 loss to Oregon.
Even if Penix isn’t under center for Indiana in Bloomington on Saturday, some Buckeyes are dead-set on getting revenge regardless.
“It’s a Big Ten matchup at the end of the day, but yeah, definitely, we owe them something,” Hickman said. “We’re excited for it, I’m sure they are too.”
Quick aside here, what exactly does it say about your program that a year later, your opponent is still distraught that your team even came within a single score in the game?
PICKS! I took last week off with the Buckeyes, but the week before that we went a perfect 5-0. Let's make it 10 straight.
- Virginia Tech vs. Syracuse under 46. Both of these teams love to run the ball and neither particularly seems to love to score. 46 is a low total, but this is going to go under.
- Clemson +3 against Pittsburgh. I think it's hilarious that Clemson is an underdog to Pitt, but I also think that at the end of the day, Clemson is still far more talented. So I'll gladly take them plus points.
- Iowa State -7 against Oklahoma State. I'm picking this game because I think it's hilarious and extremely emblematic of this season that an unranked team is favored by a full touchdown against a top-10 team – and it should be! Iowa State is the better team and will win comfortably.
- Ohio State -21 against Indiana. I've said enough already – Buckeyes roll.
- Wisconsin -3 against Purdue. Purdue is ranked and I'm happy for them, but they should enjoy it while it lasts because Wisconsin's gonna send them right back out of the polls this week.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Power" by Kanye West.
NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. Pablo Escobar's hippos are legally people... Japanese ghost ships sunk during the WWII battle of Iwo Jima are raised from the deep after volcano tremors lift the seabeds... My father, the hitman... A mysterious 'A Team' rescued dogs from a volcano... There's a national sperm shortage and one man is cashing in...
