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Indiana Football: Big Ten schedule could look different for Hoosiers

By Adam Childs

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - NOVEMBER 30: Head coach Tom Allen of the Indiana Hoosiers is seen during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on November 30, 2019 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - NOVEMBER 30: Head coach Tom Allen of the Indiana Hoosiers is seen during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on November 30, 2019 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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The Indiana football team is gearing up for what will hopefully be a great season, but the Big Ten schedule could get switched up a little bit.

There have been rumors going around about what the Big Ten is going to do with their 10 game schedule. The first is who will be the 10th opponent for each team, but more recently it has been in what order they will play them.

News started to trickle out yesterday that the Big Ten was looking at front-loading the schedule with division only games to help reduce the travel. Although the East could still travel a bunch with Maryland and Rutgers in their division. The West is a little bit more compact so that makes more sense with them.

The biggest thing that came out of this was Michigan and Ohio State might not play the last weekend of the season this year. That rivalry game is normally what ends the season for both teams and is a huge deal.

The good news for Indiana, though, is that their rivalry game could still be played at the end as Purdue is in the West. This is good news for fans of those teams as having the Old Oaken Bucket game to end the year is always special.

The bad news for the Hoosiers is they have to play the East to start the year. The original schedule for the Hoosiers was set up nicely for them to get off to a great start and with an upset of Wisconsin to start the year possibly a 7-0 start.

That won’t be the case if this rumor happens. The Hoosiers won’t start off with Wisconsin, but it could be replaced by Michigan, Ohio State, or Penn State. Either way, they will have to play those three teams in the first six games. What looked like nice start of the season to build some momentum, could now easily turn into a 3-3 record or worse.

Indiana has a very good team this year and is capable of pulling off some upsets, but it would have been nice to get off to a great start with their original schedule. Teams have used great starts to turn a season great, see Minnesota last year. On the flip side, good teams have struggled out of the gate and it has ruined their season.

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Hopefully, Indiana can battle through the first part of their schedule and still have a strong finish, but the thought of playing the whole East first is not the best scenario for the Hoosiers.

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