Indiana Football: Hoosiers non-conference schedule ranked 2nd easiest

ESPN released their non-conference schedule rankings and has Indiana football ranked highly on their list.

The college football season is quickly approaching as many incoming freshmen are arriving on campus and ESPN just released their non-conference schedule rankings which included the Indiana football program at an interesting spot.

In a list that is dominated by SEC and Big Ten schools, making up nine of the top 10 easiest schedules, it won’t take you long to find the Hoosiers on the list, ranked second behind the Baylor Bears.

With the grueling Big Ten schedule that has seen Indiana go 4-14 over the course of the last two seasons, it is expected that they will have an easy schedule.

This year, their non-conference schedule consists of Ball State (Aug 31), Eastern Illinois (Sep 7), and UConn (Sep 21).

With a combined record of 8-27 last year, there should be no reason that Indiana doesn’t go undefeated in those three games once again.

While Indiana is not a team that should impact the College Football Playoff, challenging non-conference schedules are a part of what the committee has supposedly said that they take into account when picking the final four teams. But that’s not really the case.

Alabama is usually near the top of the list and in 2016 when Washington made the playoff they had a non-conference schedule that included Rutgers, Idaho and Portland State at home.

The Hoosiers are looking to advance to a bowl game for the first time since 2016 and after two 5-7 seasons, it’s not their non-conference that they need to worry about.