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2025 Indiana

16–⁠0 (9–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Curt Cignetti, finished No. 1 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Indiana in 2025, game by game: won vs. Old Dominion 27–14; won vs. Kennesaw State 56–9; won vs. Indiana State 73–0; won vs. No. 9 Illinois 63–10; won at Iowa 20–15; won at No. 3 Oregon 30–20; won vs. Michigan State 38–13; won vs. UCLA 56–6; won at Maryland 55–10; won at Penn State 27–24; won vs. Wisconsin 31–7; won at Purdue 56–3; won vs. No. 1 Ohio State 13–10; won vs. No. 11 Alabama 38–3; won vs. No. 5 Oregon 56–22; won vs. No. 10 Miami 27–21+73Won 27–14 vs. Old Dominion+13Old DominionWon 56–9 vs. Kennesaw State+47Kennesaw StateWon 73–0 vs. Indiana State+73Indiana StateWon 63–10 vs. No. 9 Illinois+53No. 9 IllinoisWon 20–15 at Iowa+5IowaWon 30–20 at No. 3 Oregon+10No. 3 OregonWon 38–13 vs. Michigan State+25Michigan StateWon 56–6 vs. UCLA+50UCLAWon 55–10 at Maryland+45MarylandWon 27–24 at Penn State+3Penn StateWon 31–7 vs. Wisconsin+24WisconsinWon 56–3 at Purdue+53PurdueWon 13–10 vs. No. 1 Ohio State+3No. 1 Ohio StateWon 38–3 vs. No. 11 Alabama+35No. 11 AlabamaWon 56–22 vs. No. 5 Oregon+34No. 5 OregonWon 27–21 vs. No. 10 Miami+6No. 10 Miami
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsOld DominionW 27–⁠1472%
Sep 6vsKennesaw StateW 56–⁠990%
Sep 12vsIndiana StateW 73–⁠092%
Sep 20vs9IllinoisW 63–⁠1057%
Sep 27atIowaW 20–⁠1547%
Oct 11at3OregonW 30–⁠2030%
Oct 18vsMichigan StateW 38–⁠1388%
Oct 25vsUCLAW 56–⁠684%
Nov 1atMarylandW 55–⁠1073%
Nov 8atPenn StateW 27–⁠2460%
Nov 15vsWisconsinW 31–⁠789%
Nov 28atPurdueW 56–⁠389%
Dec 6vs1Ohio StateBig Ten ChampionshipW 13–⁠1035%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs11AlabamaRose Bowl, CFP QuarterfinalW 38–⁠358%
Jan 9Bowls & playoffvs5OregonPeach Bowl, CFP SemifinalW 56–⁠2245%
Jan 19Bowls & playoffvs10MiamiCFP National ChampionshipW 27–⁠2160%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Miami 27–⁠21 in the CFP National Championship; No. 1 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 132 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 20
  2. Wk 2: 23
  3. Wk 3: 22
  4. Wk 4: 19
  5. Wk 5: 11
  6. Wk 6: 8
  7. Wk 7: 7
  8. Wk 8: 3
  9. Wk 9: 2
  10. Wk 10: 2
  11. Wk 11: 2
  12. Wk 12: 2
  13. Wk 13: 2
  14. Wk 14: 2
  15. Wk 15: 2
  16. Wk 16: 1
  17. Final: 1

National championsNo. 1 in the final AP poll, and a title the school claims

Big Ten champions9–⁠0 in the conference

Led the nationFernando Mendoza: passing touchdowns (41 TD), passer rating (182.9); Elijah Sarratt: receiving touchdowns (15 TD)

Heisman TrophyFernando Mendoza, QB; also the Maxwell, Walter Camp, Davey O’Brien and Manning

Consensus All-AmericanCarter Smith, OL

Walter Camp Coach of the YearCurt Cignetti, coach; also the Bear Bryant Award and Bobby Dodd Award

Broyles AwardBryant Haines, coach

Record
16–⁠0
Conference
9–⁠0 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 1 peak No. 1
Points
666–⁠187
Coach
Curt Cignetti
Elo
1882 +280 this season
SP+ rating
32.4 No. 1 of 136; offense No. 2, defense No. 2, special teams No. 16
SRS
27.4 No. 1 of 136 in FBS
Returning
25% of last season’s EPA, No. 83 of 134
Recruiting class
No. 47 roster talent No. 72 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Mike Shanahan and Chandler Whitmer
Defensive coordinator
Bryant Haines
Offense
Pro spread
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense5th of 136
  • Defense7th of 136
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted2nd of 136
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted3rd of 136
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2850%1.255th of 136
Defense-0.0735%1.367th of 136
Opponent-adjusted0.31 off
-0.09 def		51% off
33% def		—2nd off
3rd def

Passing and running

Pass successDepth of targetDeep throwsLine yardsStuffed
Offense60%9.4 yds16%3.5011%
Defense40%8.0 yds12%2.3027%
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played. Passing and running: depth of target is how far downfield passes traveled in the air; deep throws are the share thrown deep, of the passes whose depth and direction the play-by-play describes (about half); line yards are the running yards per carry credited to the blockers; stuffed is the share of carries stopped at or behind the line. The defense’s line is what its opponents did. From CollegeFootballData.com, 2025 on.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense5.1own 3111% allowed
Defense2.1own 2623% caused

CORE rating 33.9, 3rd of 136 (offense 18.9, defense -15.0).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsFernando Mendoza QB3,535 yds
Passing touchdownsFernando Mendoza QB41 TD
Rushing yardsRoman Hemby RB1,120 yds
Rushing touchdownsKaelon Black RB10 TD
Receiving yardsOmar Cooper Jr. WR961 yds
Receiving touchdownsElijah Sarratt WR15 TD
TacklesRolijah Hardy LB103 tkl
SacksRolijah Hardy LB8 sacks
InterceptionsLouis Moore DB5 INT

Top recruits in the 2025 class

Byron Baldwin Jr. S★★★★No. 258
Triston Abram DE★★★No. 581
Tyrone Burrus Jr. DE★★★No. 588
Davion Chandler WR★★★No. 628
Sean Cuono RB★★★No. 795

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2025 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks22.50.808
Running backs13.00.874
Receivers53.00.865
Offensive line42.80.838
Defensive line53.00.871
Linebackers33.00.861
Defensive backs43.30.880
Athletes and specialists23.00.834
Whole class263.00.857

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2026

The 2026 draft
Rd 1Fernando Mendoza QBLas Vegas Raiders
Rd 1Omar Cooper Jr. WRNew York Jets
Rd 2D’Angelo Ponds CBNew York Jets
Rd 3Kaelon Black RBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 4Elijah Sarratt WRBaltimore Ravens
Rd 5Riley Nowakowski TEPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 6Pat Coogan CTennessee Titans
Rd 7Aiden Fisher LBHouston Texans

Roster 106

The 2025 roster

106 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2025 line; 59 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 23

The 2025 portal
Fernando Mendoza QB★★★★from California
Pat Coogan OL★★★★from Notre Dame
Amariyun Knighten CB★★★from Northern Illinois
Holden Staes TE★★★from Tennessee
Roman Hemby RB★★★from Maryland
Ryland Gandy CB★★★from Pittsburgh
Tyler Morris WR★★★from Michigan
Dominique Ratcliff DL★★★from Texas State
Kellan Wyatt DE★★★from Maryland
Makai Jackson WR★★★from App State
Stephen Daley DE★★★from Kent State
Zen Michalski OT★★★from Ohio State

And 11 more, lower-rated or unrated.

Transfers out 27

Donaven McCulley WR★★★to Michigan
Jamier Johnson CB★★★to UCLA
Josh Philostin CB★★★to Rhode Island
Tayven Jackson QB★★★to UCF
Austin Barrett OT★★★to Iowa State
Brody Foley TE★★★to Tulsa
Marcus Burris Jr. DL★★★to Memphis
Nahji Logan LB★★★to Nevada
E.J. Williams WR★★★returned to Indiana
Jamari Farmer LB★★★to East Tennessee State
Sam West TE★★★to Mississippi State
Elijah Green RB★★★to Sam Houston

And 15 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-Big Ten

8 first team, 7 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2025 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2025 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Indiana9–⁠016–⁠01
Ohio State9–⁠012–⁠25
Oregon8–⁠113–⁠24
Michigan7–⁠29–⁠421
USC7–⁠29–⁠420
Iowa6–⁠39–⁠417
Illinois5–⁠49–⁠4
Washington5–⁠49–⁠4
Minnesota5–⁠48–⁠5
Nebraska4–⁠57–⁠6
Northwestern4–⁠57–⁠6
Penn State3–⁠67–⁠6
UCLA3–⁠63–⁠9
Rutgers2–⁠75–⁠7
Wisconsin2–⁠74–⁠8
Michigan State1–⁠84–⁠8
Maryland1–⁠84–⁠8
Purdue0–⁠92–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.