HoosierFan1994

Really like our chances. I think Beck could potentially come back to Georgia.

Looking at the roster for next year, these are my top 5 portal needs for the season 1) QB..Would be awesome to land Mendoza for 2025 and 2026. Have Cherry or his brother be ready in 2027. Hope TJ sticks around. Had he been our starter this year, Indiana probably goes 9-3 at worst. Crazy to think about. (That's no shot at Kurtis, that just tells you how talented this team is). 2) DL Starters and depth...Losing Carpenter, West, and Carr. Kamara could go pro. I hope he sticks around but Kiper has him as a top ten DE. Probably puts him around round 3/4. Outside of Tucker not much else returning. 3) OL Depth..losing Katic and Lynch. Not sure if Evans will be ready by the start of the season. I'm sure a guy or two currently in the program will be ready to start next year. Would be awesome to get at least one proven starter. Wonder if Kidwell will apply for a medical hardship waiver to return? He was a projected starter. 4) RB depth..Kaleon Black is someone who I think has to be in the equation. I really liked the tandem backfield this year with Lawton and Ellison. Would be nice to find one more back to go with Kaelon. 5) WR Depth along with TE..going to be nice to have Sarratt and Cooper back. Not much else after that. I know Williams returned and the incoming Freshman (Bond) is their highest rated offensive recruit coming in for this class. Considering 5 WR's put up decent numbers this year, feel like IU would be an attractive place for WR's. Horton will be missed. Again, not sure if the program has someone else that is ready to step up. I feel really good about the LB room and secondary. Now, I don't want to think about the 2025 season until hopefully January 21. Ridiculous that this program had to deal with signing day, prep for the CFP, and recruit the portal...although it can't be a bad thing that Cig can tell a portal recruit "Hey, come visit us. Watch us practice to prepare for the CFP..this could be you next year."

My thoughts exactly. I get college semester starts on January 6 or 13 in most places, but this is ridiculous. I have to think that's the main holdup with all of this.

haha...was thinking more like 2023 level.

I have zero idea if this will work, but I think having guys like Deion and Belichick in college makes it better for the sport. I thought WVU was the best job of the P4 schools simply because they have the best path to get to their conference title game. The question is can Bill put UNC on the same level as Clemson, Miami, FSU, and now a school like SMU?

Love that the staff is going to get a top portal QB. I'd love for TJ to stick around and compete, but I feel if IU wants to continue to be in the college football playoffs, you have to have an elite QB.

I'd say 10 for 29 yards or 12 for 33 yards and that is a win.

Very true. I'd argue they haven't seen an offense either like ours.

Not a big "film" guy, but I know some of you are. I have a question: Did Northern Illinois do anything special in stopping Riley Leonard from running that game? Or was it so early in the year ND didn't figure it out yet that their only way to win is for him to run the ball. Reason I ask is that he had the 2nd most pass attemps all year against them. It was also by far his worst game running the football. He was only sacked twice that game. In fact, he ran the ball 11 times which is near the most attempts he's had all year. Not a coincidence they lost that game. That is what this game will come down to. Can Indiana completely eliminate him from doing that. This is the kind of game I hope Indiana can score early and often...make them play without a lead. My magic numbers are for him to have more than 25 passes this game and less than 3 yards a carry. If that can happen, I like Indiana's chances.

Thoughts on the draw: give the road route (that should be for debate as well) this is the best possible draw. Play a Notre Dame team that relies heavily on the run. Key is going to be containing Riley Leonard. Win that, and you play a Georgia team struggling on offense right now. Their OLine isn't great, run game has been inconsistent, and most likely their backup QB. Their defense is very good. Probably best of the possible teams left. What's odd is Georgia got the Sugar Bowl (NOLA) and not Peach Bowl (ATL). Then, semifinals would be SMU/Penn State or Boise State. You could argue that game would be the least challening. OSU game might be somewhat of a blessing. Listening to Cig on ESPN talk about things he would do differently this time.

One last thought: I don't hate Notre Dame. Kind of like the Colts, my "2nd" favorite team I "root" for in CF. That being said...Indiana CAN beat them. Notre Dame can't throw the football. Our defense has been incredible against the run this year. I think that's a very good matchup for IU. Maybe the best possible one? Am I wrong to be that optimistic?

Debates I think the committee has left: 1) SMU or Bama 2) Order of Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, and Ohio State for 5-8 seeds 3) Clemson or Arizona State of the last bye Vegas showing SMU gets in which I 100% agree. Really should not punish a team for playing an extra game. ACC commish did a nice job talking about this on Gameday this morning. If SMU is in, I think Texas is 5, Penn State is 6, Notre Dame is 7, and Ohio State is 8. They won't want to punish Texas and Penn State for the extra game. Will be interesting to see since OSU beat Penn State head to head. I think Clemson jumps Arizona State. #17 Clemson beat #8 SMU. #15 Arizona State beat #16 Iowa State. How I think it'll play out.. 1) Oregon 2) Georgia 3) Boise State 4) Clemson 5) Texas 6) Penn State 7) Notre Dame 8) Ohio State 9) Tennesssee 10) Indiana 11) SMU 12) Arizona State First 2 out: Bama, Miami I think 1, 2, 3, 9, and 10 seeds are set in stone. Rest are up for debate.

As far as IU's matchup in the first round, I think there are 4 likely teams: Penn State, Ohio State, Texas, and possibly Georgia. Really only the Big Ten and SEC champ games have an outcome on this. Order is from most likely to least likely based on vegas odds. Oregon and Texas win (IU at Penn State): I think it goes 5) ND, 6) OSU, 7) Penn State, 8) Georgia, 9) Tennessee, 10) IU Oregon and Georgia win (IU at Ohio State): 5) ND, 6) Texas, 7) OSU, 8) Penn State, 9) Tennessee, 10) IU Penn State and Texas win (IU at Ohio State..maybe Georgia): 5) Oregon, 6) ND, 7) OSU, 8) Georgia, 9) Tennessee, 10) IU Penn State and Georgia win (IU at Texas) 5) Oregon, 6) ND, 7) Texas, 8) OSU, 9) Tennssee, 10) IU I think this Indiana team can go into Penn State and win. Unless it's a Friday night game I don't see it being in primetime...just better matchups they'll put in that slot. I'd like another crack at Ohio State. I wonder how that team will respond after losing to Michigan. There is a part of that fan base that wants them to lose first round so they can fire Ryan Day. I don't want any part of Georgia or Texas...Not sure why, just see us losing to them on the road.

I can't see them playing Georgia as they will either move up or down. I don't see a home game unless Penn State and Georgia lose in a blowout fashion. Might need SMU to lose just so we jump them in the overall rankings.

I think it would be cool. Just because a team misses the playoffs doesn't mean it was a bad season. This way the next 12 teams get to play in a very good bowl. Even in the CFP era I still enjoyed watching NY6 bowls evern tho some players sat out. Unless IU is ever playing in them I'll probably never watch any of the other bowl games. Just like I have zero interest in the NIT.. Basically it would be 1) College Football playoff; 2) NY6 Bowls; 3) Any other bowls. Will the Rose Bowl be the semifinal every year? I can't see them ever moving it away from January 1st at 5:00...

It's amazing how they can screw something really good up. Whoever came up with this idea...part of me thinks they stole it from the NFL. Ex: This year the NFC South/NFC West will likely host Minnesota or Green Bay only just because they won the division. Houston will likely play Baltimore, Pittsburgh, or LA Chargers at home for the same reason.

I hope this changes next year. Whoever is the 5 seed has the best path to the semifinals. That is silly. I also hope one day this happens but doubt it will: Only neutral site game is the championship. Make it like the NFL and let the schools host the playoffs. Make the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Cotton, Peach, and Orange bowls for the next 12 teams. Even if you miss the playoff you can still have a decent season if you are a top 25 team.

The good news is IU is in. Looking like on the road. I think these are the 4 host sites: Notre Dame, Ohio State, Loser of Big Ten champ game, Loser of SEC champ game. I still think Miami should have been the last spot. Ohio State lost at home as a 3 TD favorite. Miami lost on the road (granted they were a ten point favorite) to a 9-3 team. Ohio State only fell 4 spots and still gets to host a game. Miami fell 6 spots and is out. I just don't like that. Bama gets rewarded for beating a 5-7 Auburn team just a week after losing bad to 6-6 OU. The million dollar question: If SMU loses are they in? It'll be between them and Bama. If SMU wins there will be no drama.

I think so too..Ellison, Lawton, Smith, Evans on offense. Carpenter and Ferrell on Defense. I could be wrong, but of our 6 All-B1G selections 4 could come back next year. Sarratt, Fisher, and Ponds. Kamara I think goes pro but could come back. Kurtis, Katic, potentially Kamara and others are big losses. But, there will be some talent coming back! If I'm a Portal QB, having Sarratt and Cooper back will be huge. Will probably have around 5 starters on each side of the ball back..not bad.

I don't understand how that QB is going to even get drafted early. ESPN has him as a 2nd/3rd round pick. He started the year as the Heisman favorite and in the discussion for the #1 overall pick. Tells you how much McConkey and Bowers meant to him and Georgia. I just think the Georgia defense would wear us out which would in return wear our defense out.

Maybe Texas. We will see how they look tomorrow. I still think we will see a major upset at some point. Miami-Syracuse will be a shoot-out. You know Vanderbilt would love to beat their in-state rival. USC has looked good at times this year. I can see them giving Notre Dame a game. Maybe Cal gives SMU a scare.

If SMU wins a close one and IU just blows Purdue out we should jump them. Ridiculous they're ahead of IU. Good team, but don't see how they're 9.

Hope you are right...but I think GT plays them close because they see them every year. Last two years the game has been close. Right now, our offense has struggled against teams with multiple NFL draft picks (Michigan and OSU). OSU and Georgia are the two teams I do not want to see for that reason. Georgia is incredibly overrated though.

Sucks because a Georgia loss gets IU 100% in with a win instead of 97% in. I'm still worried about buffoonery from the committee. I do not like falling from 5 to 10 and behind SMU.

I still think Georgia would have been in as the last team in..but would've been funny to see them lose.