Big Ten · Bloomington, Indiana
Indiana Football
2026 college football program hub
The short version
Indiana football in 2026
Indiana is 5-0 through 5 completed games: 5 wins, 0 losses.
Latest confirmed result: Indiana beat Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 47-15, on Saturday, October 3, 2026.
Indiana plays next against Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at home in Bloomington, Indiana. The kickoff time is TBD. TV coverage is TBD.
Program center
Indiana football pages
2026 season
Big Ten football
5-0 current recordHead coach
Curt Cignetti
Leading the Indiana Hoosiers through the 2026 season.
Program profile
Bloomington, Indiana
Indiana
In pictures
IND on game day
Program background · Reviewed 2026-09-01
The most improbable champion in the sport's history
Indiana went 16-0 in 2025 and won the College Football Playoff national championship, beating Miami 27-21 at Hard Rock Stadium. It was the program's first national title in 139 years, and the first 16-0 season in the modern era — the only other team to manage it was Yale in 1894, playing multiple games a week.
The context is what makes it extraordinary. Indiana had lost 715 games before that season, the second most in FBS history. In the three years before Curt Cignetti arrived, the program finished 2-10, 4-8 and 3-9.
Program background · Reviewed 2026-09-01
How the season went
Indiana finished the regular season 12-0 for the first time ever, including a first-ever win at Penn State and a road victory over then-No. 5 Oregon. It then beat No. 1 Ohio State 13-10 in the Big Ten Championship — a first conference title since 1967, and the first outright since 1945.
In the playoff, as top seed, Indiana beat Alabama 38-3 in the Rose Bowl and Oregon 56-22 in the Peach Bowl before the final. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy, the first in program history.
Program background · Reviewed 2026-09-01
Defending it in 2026
Indiana opens 2026 ranked sixth with eight first-place votes, and the central question is at quarterback: Mendoza was expected to move on to the NFL. Cignetti is in a third season with his coordinators, Mike Shanahan on offense and Bryant Haines on defense, both retained.
The season opens at home against North Texas on September 5, with Ohio State and Michigan both on the schedule.
Explore
More on IND
Players
Roster
Published player records by position group, with available class years, measurements, and hometowns.
Staff
Coaches
Curt Cignetti and the published staff directory.
Numbers
Season stats
Confirmed results, points scored and allowed, and per-game scoring averages.
Archive
Program history
Championships, milestones, and the program’s history.
League
Big Ten
The rest of the conference and how the title race is shaping up.
Nearby
Teams in Indiana
Other programs in the same state, if you follow more than one.
FAQ
IND frequently asked questions
What is the IND 2026 football record?
Indiana is 5-0 through 5 completed games: 5 wins, 0 losses.
When does IND play next?
Indiana plays next against Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at home in Bloomington, Indiana. The kickoff time is TBD. TV coverage is TBD.
Who coaches Indiana?
Curt Cignetti is the head coach.
What conference does IND play in?
Indiana competes in the Big Ten.
Did Indiana win the national championship?
Yes. Indiana beat Miami 27-21 at Hard Rock Stadium in January 2026 to win the College Football Playoff national championship, the first in the programme's 139-year history. The Hoosiers finished the season 16-0, having also won the Big Ten title along the way.
How rare is a 16-0 season?
Extremely. Indiana became the first FBS team to finish a season at 16-0, and the first team at any level to go unbeaten with sixteen wins since Yale in 1894, when teams played several games a week. The expanded playoff made a sixteen-game season possible at all.
Where is Indiana ranked to start 2026?
Sixth in the AP preseason poll, which is unusually low for a defending national champion and reflects widespread expectations of regression after such a historic season. Indiana did still receive eight first-place votes despite being ranked as low as sixth.
How bad was Indiana before Curt Cignetti?
Historically among the worst programmes in major college football. Indiana had lost 715 games before the 2025 season, the second most in FBS history, and it finished 2-10, then 4-8, then 3-9 in the three years immediately preceding his arrival.
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