IUFB Offseason Updates

[Pagoda]

Interestingly, the big boys that are successful mostly focus on high school and keeping those kids in their programs and developing them.  They use the portal, but in more limited spots where they have a need.

‘26 is one of our better classes the past 15 years.  Historically we might have one good class every 4-5 years with the rest being bad (like 50th+).

I think Cig can keep getting classes around #30, which is quite good for us and with those kids he can keep us in the top-25 range with playoff hopes.

But frankly, to level up much further we really need more NIL for football… like $10M more.  At the end of the day better players cost more.  Not sure where that $ comes from… need Scott to figure that out.

[cthomas]

9 hours ago, Brass Cannon said:

Certainly good to see. But more and more I think the transfer portal is where the real work is to be done.  At least if you are trying to roll with the big boys.  

Exactly! We are not stacking 5* recruits in every class yet. We need the best high school guys we can get and then the best portal guys to fill needs. Fortunately, we have a head coach now with an excellent eye for undervalued players. I see us working our way up the talent ladder year over year.

[cthomas]

9 hours ago, Pagoda said:

Interestingly, the big boys that are successful mostly focus on high school and keeping those kids in their programs and developing them.  They use the portal, but in more limited spots where they have a need.

‘26 is one of our better classes the past 15 years.  Historically we might have one good class every 4-5 years with the rest being bad (like 50th+).

I think Cig can keep getting classes around #30, which is quite good for us and with those kids he can keep us in the top-25 range with playoff hopes.

But frankly, to level up much further we really need more NIL for football… like $10M more.  At the end of the day better players cost more.  Not sure where that $ comes from… need Scott to figure that out.

We have the alumni base to make that happen. They just need to see sustained success and the rewards that come with it. If we can't do that with Cignetti, then it can't be done at Indiana.

[Brass Cannon]

11 hours ago, cthomas said:

We have the alumni base to make that happen. They just need to see sustained success and the rewards that come with it. If we can't do that with Cignetti, then it can't be done at Indiana.

I saw something where the schools will get NLI money for people using a team in the new college football game.  Theoretically that will give us an advantage with our large alumni base compared to a smaller school. Assuming people use us. 

[Brass Cannon]

21 hours ago, Pagoda said:

Interestingly, the big boys that are successful mostly focus on high school and keeping those kids in their programs and developing them.  They use the portal, but in more limited spots where they have a need.

‘26 is one of our better classes the past 15 years.  Historically we might have one good class every 4-5 years with the rest being bad (like 50th+).

I think Cig can keep getting classes around #30, which is quite good for us and with those kids he can keep us in the top-25 range with playoff hopes.

But frankly, to level up much further we really need more NIL for football… like $10M more.  At the end of the day better players cost more.  Not sure where that $ comes from… need Scott to figure that out.

They are stacking the talent sure but when they don’t have the guy they need they just go get the guy they need in the portal.  
 

it’s not a problem if they missed 3 years ago because they can just get them in the portal now.  

[Pagoda]

Little Pat Kuntz feature here.  So good.  He will make you want to run through a brick wall.

https://x.com/IndianaFootball/status/1957140949265420576

 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Lucas Oil will be the title sponsor of the Memorial Stadium Field Suites for the upcoming Hoosier Football season.

https://247sports.com/college/indiana/article/iu-announces-partnership-with-indiana-based-lucas-oil-252737145/

https://iuhoosiers.com/news/2025/8/18/general-iu-athletics-announces-new-partnership-with-lucas-oil

[rayl456]

AP Preseason Second Team All-Americans - Fisher, Ponds, Sarratt 

[Pagoda]

“The Indiana Hoosiers football program added two non-conference opponents to their 2026 and 2028 schedules. The Hoosiers will play the Howard University Bison on September 12th, 2026 and the Miami (OH) Redhawks on September 16th, 2028.” (Per the Hoosier Huddle)

Don’t hate the player hate the game!  ;-)

[CSP]

Until the SEC plays 9 conference games, this is a smart route for us. We can always buy ourselves out of these games. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

12 hours ago, Pagoda said:

“The Indiana Hoosiers football program added two non-conference opponents to their 2026 and 2028 schedules. The Hoosiers will play the Howard University Bison on September 12th, 2026 and the Miami (OH) Redhawks on September 16th, 2028.” (Per the Hoosier Huddle)

Don’t hate the player hate the game!  ;-)

The SEC model.  POTFSEC

[southsidehoosier]

https://eu.heraldtimesonline.com/story/sports/college/iu/2025/08/19/indiana-football-hits-pair-of-ticket-sales-milestones-with-2025-season-opener-on-deck/85704318007/

[IndyHoosier1997]

20 hours ago, southsidehoosier said:

https://eu.heraldtimesonline.com/story/sports/college/iu/2025/08/19/indiana-football-hits-pair-of-ticket-sales-milestones-with-2025-season-opener-on-deck/85704318007/

Astonishing the the home opener for this team still has 9,000 tickets left. 

[Pagoda]

2 minutes ago, IndyHoosier1997 said:

Astonishing the the home opener for this team still has 9,000 tickets left. 

Yea.  It's been disappointing to track.  At the end of the day, pre-Cig we had one of the smallest fanbases in CFB, and I get why, IU didn't care about football for decades.  And even with the growth in fan interest over the past year, our fanbase is still one of the smallest in the P2/P4.  I wish more folks would jump on board, but it is what it is, I can't change what people are interested in.

I don't know how many tickets will be sold closer to gameday and what the walk-up crowd might be -- may depend on promotions.  IU probably priced the cupcake games a little too high ($61 is the cheapest available for the general public).  I've seen some other schools selling cupcake games tickets for quite a bit less than we are -- $20 or less and some are just giving them away.

We've sold about 44K tickets for the opener so far and last year's opener was 44K, so I'd think if the weather is good we'll get few more thousand tickets sold.

[Pagoda]

Here is something good.  A lot more NFL folks around...

[Hovadipo]

29 minutes ago, Pagoda said:

IU probably priced the cupcake games a little too high ($61 is the cheapest available for the general public).

Yep. This is obnoxious. Add in getting rid of youth tickets (I'd understand if they got rid of them just for B1G season, to be fair) and it's pretty easy to see why sales are where they are. Pack the stadium by any means necessary for the non-cons and the conference season will take care of itself. Some of the ticket office/admin decisions have been head-scratching and really frustrating the last couple of years.

[Lebowski]

1 hour ago, Pagoda said:

Yea.  It's been disappointing to track.  At the end of the day, pre-Cig we had one of the smallest fanbases in CFB, and I get why, IU didn't care about football for decades.  And even with the growth in fan interest over the past year, our fanbase is still one of the smallest in the P2/P4.  I wish more folks would jump on board, but it is what it is, I can't change what people are interested in.

I don't know how many tickets will be sold closer to gameday and what the walk-up crowd might be -- may depend on promotions.  IU probably priced the cupcake games a little too high ($61 is the cheapest available for the general public).  I've seen some other schools selling cupcake games tickets for quite a bit less than we are -- $20 or less and some are just giving them away.

We've sold about 44K tickets for the opener so far and last year's opener was 44K, so I'd think if the weather is good we'll get few more thousand tickets sold.

Give it time. A lot of folks are skeptic about IUFB. Many think last year was a fluke and are in a holding pattern. This year should change all that. 

29 minutes ago, Hovadipo said:

Yep. This is obnoxious. Add in getting rid of youth tickets (I'd understand if they got rid of them just for B1G season, to be fair) and it's pretty easy to see why sales are where they are. Pack the stadium by any means necessary for the non-cons and the conference season will take care of itself. Some of the ticket office/admin decisions have been head-scratching and really frustrating the last couple of years.

Cost of living these days might also be another equation. Folks are pinching pennies, myself included.

[Home Jersey]

During the non-conference, I expect attendance will be a little better than last year at the beginning of the season. But not much. And people will leave early as they do.

Cig will be annoyed and make some comments that get fans worried he may leave or they'll start reacting defensively. But as long as they take care of business like they should, I think the fanbase will show up big time come conference season. Hopefully if they lose a game earlier than they did last season, the excitement doesn't die down quickly. 

We're all happy as pigs in mud with Cig, rightfully so, but year 2 is very much a "prove it" (again) year for IUFB, IMO. 

[Hovadipo]

2 minutes ago, Lebowski said:

Cost of living these days might also be another equation. Folks are pinching pennies, myself included.

100%, which is why $60+ get-in price to guaranteed 30+ point wins is obnoxious. In my opinion, it doesn't come off as acting like a big time program, it comes off as ignorant. And it's not the first time. My season tickets are bought and paid for, so I'm not affected, but I wouldn't be dropping $240 before I even leave the driveway to take my family of 4 to watch us beat a G5 by 40.

[Stuhoo]

23 minutes ago, Hovadipo said:

100%, which is why $60+ get-in price to guaranteed 30+ point wins is obnoxious. In my opinion, it doesn't come off as acting like a big time program, it comes off as ignorant. And it's not the first time. My season tickets are bought and paid for, so I'm not affected, but I wouldn't be dropping $240 before I even leave the driveway to take my family of 4 to watch us beat a G5 by 40.

With NIL the university is most certainly running a business. Getting rid of youth tickets and pricing crap non-conference games at a relatively high $61 face value price is a 'no guarantees' business strategy. However, if, as reported, they are selling all but 5,000 tickets at that face value price? Seems as though the business decision has been a sound one. 

The StubHub/SeatGeek prices for all of these sold out conference games are really high. These 'relatively high' but much lower/face value non-con tickets are a chance for people to see a game in person during a nice weather time of the year for far less. $245 for four tickets for ODU may seem like a lot, but for many that is a better option than $700 for four tickets for Wisconsin.

Making the minimum face value ticket high for the non-con also requires the season ticket holders to ante up if they want face value tickets to the better games. So for those lame-@$$ games like Friday night against ISU? The StubHub price is going to be cheaper than face value because those season ticket holders who paid IU full price are going to unload them for less than full price. On SeatGeek the current 'all fees included' get-in price for a pair for ODU is $26 per ticket. Some season ticket holder paid IU $61 each for those, yet the less-funded public can get in far cheaper.

I hate to sound like a Kelley School geek (I'm not one), but this business strategy seems to make good sense.