2026 IUFB: CHAPTER 3

[Demo]

1 hour ago, Stuhoo said:

As for the “Dante Moore is it” advantage argument, here is the Athlon Sports preseason QB ranking for 2025:

 

and for 2024:

 

Athlon going down with the Drew Allar ship. 

[Stuhoo]

9 minutes ago, Demo said:

Athlon going down with the Drew Allar ship. 

And the “Hudson Card is better than Rourke” ship.

And you just know that they’ll go with “Dante and Nico better than Hoover” narrative.

And the “Oregon and Ohio State better than Indiana” narrative.

It’s lazy and it ignores what are the most important contributors to winning.

[str8baller]

7 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

Per 247 composite rankings, the five most talented rosters last season were:

1. Georgia
2. Bama
3. OSU
4. Texas
5. Oregon

4/5 were playoff teams. OSU probably was the most talented roster and they might be again. I’m confused as to your point…lol. IU got snubbed from those lists last year but they’ll be there this year. I’d be willing to bet 4/5 of IU/OSU/Oregon/ND/Georgia make the playoffs. 
 

Coaching matters and so does QB play. Hence some of us saying it is a *slight* edge having a returning top 5-10 QB. Even Cig said in that 30 min film breakdown there were some plays Mendoza just made that he either didn’t coach or had only seen a few times in his career. That’s the difference between a national championship and a 2nd or 3rd round exit sometimes.  
 

I think the 3 best teams will be IU, OSU, and Oregon. IU’s advantage, imo, lies in a defense that could be better than the previous two versions (maybe the same with the Oline). A dominant Dline can carry a D like no other position group. But I don’t think there will be a ton of separation between them and Oregon/OSU.
 

The difference between the ‘24 OSU game and last year’s was disproportionately on Mendoza. The D played awesome from horrible field position all game in 24 but Rourke got smacked around, rattled, and threw some awful balls (plus some shoddy special teams play). Mendoza got absolutely drilled the first series but came back to lead some huge drives on the back of Heisman-level throws. I’m willing to bet Hoover is better than Rourke, but I’d be nervous betting money he equals Mendoza’s season.  
 

I think the B1G will be a dogfight all the way through. 

[go iu bb]

15 hours ago, str8baller said:

4/5 were playoff teams. OSU probably was the most talented roster and they might be again. I’m confused as to your point…lol. IU got snubbed from those lists last year but they’ll be there this year. I’d be willing to bet 4/5 of IU/OSU/Oregon/ND/Georgia make the playoffs. 
 

Coaching matters and so does QB play. Hence some of us saying it is a *slight* edge having a returning top 5-10 QB. Even Cig said in that 30 min film breakdown there were some plays Mendoza just made that he either didn’t coach or had only seen a few times in his career. That’s the difference between a national championship and a 2nd or 3rd round exit sometimes.  
 

I think the 3 best teams will be IU, OSU, and Oregon. IU’s advantage, imo, lies in a defense that could be better than the previous two versions (maybe the same with the Oline). A dominant Dline can carry a D like no other position group. But I don’t think there will be a ton of separation between them and Oregon/OSU.
 

The difference between the ‘24 OSU game and last year’s was disproportionately on Mendoza. The D played awesome from horrible field position all game in 24 but Rourke got smacked around, rattled, and threw some awful balls (plus some shoddy special teams play). Mendoza got absolutely drilled the first series but came back to lead some huge drives on the back of Heisman-level throws. I’m willing to bet Hoover is better than Rourke, but I’d be nervous betting money he equals Mendoza’s season.  
 

I think the B1G will be a dogfight all the way through. 

Hoover is a very good QB. He actually has better numbers coming to IU than Mendoza had. Mendoza, however, has that intangible refusal to lose that is very rare. His preparation is top notch. During the games he just finds a way. It's what separates very good from great. Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes are two others with that attribute. I'm not sure that Hoover does. That's not a knock on him, merely an observation. I think he'll do quite well here and I agree with you that he'll end up somewhere between Rourke and Mendoza.

[jermhoosierfan]

2 hours ago, go iu bb said:

Hoover is a very good QB. He actually has better numbers coming to IU than Mendoza had. Mendoza, however, has that intangible refusal to lose that is very rare. His preparation is top notch. During the games he just finds a way. It's what separates very good from great. Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes are two others with that attribute. I'm not sure that Hoover does. That's not a knock on him, merely an observation. I think he'll do quite well here and I agree with you that he'll end up somewhere between Rourke and Mendoza.

The closer to Mendoza he is, the better the season will go.

[Brass Cannon]

50 minutes ago, jermhoosierfan said:

The closer to Mendoza he is, the better the season will go.

Goal will be to not put him in the situations  where we need Mendoza to be a hero. People talked about us being like the Saban Alabama teams last year now is the time to show it.   No games scoring less than 28 and no games giving up more than 20 

With the talent we have that should be the bare minimum standards.  

[Home Jersey]

1 hour ago, jermhoosierfan said:

The closer to Mendoza he is, the better the season will go.

Yes. This got me thinking though...

I feel like Rourke played at a high enough level that he could've been the QB on a championship team, especially if he was healthy instead of playing on a bum knee all year. We mainly lacked the necessary talent and depth in the trenches that year, as we all know. 

[str8baller]

6 hours ago, go iu bb said:

Hoover is a very good QB. He actually has better numbers coming to IU than Mendoza had. Mendoza, however, has that intangible refusal to lose that is very rare. His preparation is top notch. During the games he just finds a way. It's what separates very good from great. Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes are two others with that attribute. I'm not sure that Hoover does. That's not a knock on him, merely an observation. I think he'll do quite well here and I agree with you that he'll end up somewhere between Rourke and Mendoza.

My buddy that lives in Dallas is high on Hoover and says he thinks he’ll excel here. I’m very high on IU this year.  
 

 

[Pagoda]

Nice.

 

[Brass Cannon]

7 minutes ago, Pagoda said:

Nice.

 

Should have had an outline of Tennessee behind Charlie B

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich]

On 8/12/2026 at 3:41 PM, CSP said:

What makes Oregon so much more loaded than last year? Health? Especially at WR? 

Bringing a ton back. Defensively, that front 7 is nasty. Possibly the best CB in the nation. The top portal safety brought in. Offensively getting Moore back and both true freshman RBs form last season. bringing back arguably the best TE. They'll have a few 1st round picks in the 2027 draft. 

[Stuhoo]

1 hour ago, Loaded Chicken Sandwich said:

Bringing a ton back. Defensively, that front 7 is nasty. Possibly the best CB in the nation. The top portal safety brought in. Offensively getting Moore back and both true freshman RBs form last season. bringing back arguably the best TE. They'll have a few 1st round picks in the 2027 draft. 

If you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.

Indiana is currently the best, and Oregon has lost two in a row to the best. Until that changes, I see no rationale to support that Oregon is a better team than Indiana.

Level of talent? Just like last year, talent is as talent does.

[cthomas]

17 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

If you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.

Indiana is currently the best, and Oregon has lost two in a row to the best. Until that changes, I see no rationale to support that Oregon is a better team than Indiana.

NILBranding Services

 

Level of talent? Just like last year, talent is as talent does.

I find it interesting that Oregon has lost one conference game during the regular season. To Indiana. They have lost three total games in two seasons, two to Indiana and one to OSU. Both eventual national champions. I get the respect that Oregon is receiving, but I think the way they lost in the playoffs is a disturbing trend. Is it the roster or the coaching. It has to be one or the other.

[Brass Cannon]

22 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

If you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.

Indiana is currently the best, and Oregon has lost two in a row to the best. Until that changes, I see no rationale to support that Oregon is a better team than Indiana.

NILBranding Services

 

Level of talent? Just like last year, talent is as talent does.

I’d also say that had Oregon brought in somebody from the outside to address their defensive issues against our staff maybe it would be concerning. 
 

But they promoted somebody internally. A staff that literally looked lost against us. Give me Cig and co to drink their milkshake again 

[Stuhoo]

3 minutes ago, cthomas said:

I find it interesting that Oregon has lost one conference game during the regular season. To Indiana. They have lost three total games in two seasons, two to Indiana and one to OSU. Both eventual national champions. I get the respect that Oregon is receiving, but I think the way they lost in the playoffs is a disturbing trend. Is it the roster or the coaching. It has to be one or the other.

 

2 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

I’d also say that had Oregon brought in somebody from the outside to address their defensive issues against our staff maybe it would be concerning. 
 

But they promoted somebody internally. A staff that literally looked lost against us. Give me Cig and co to drink their milkshake again 

Preach brothers.

This is an IU fan board. So while we’re going to defer to preferring the Hoosiers, in this case the crimson colored glasses are based on objective facts while the counter argument is based on the same old tired narratives about talent rankings and potential.

i get that the less perceptive parts of other fanbases still might not get it, but for an IU fan to not get it  is truly astounding at this point.

[Brass Cannon]

10 minutes ago, cthomas said:

I find it interesting that Oregon has lost one conference game during the regular season. To Indiana. They have lost three total games in two seasons, two to Indiana and one to OSU. Both eventual national champions. I get the respect that Oregon is receiving, but I think the way they lost in the playoffs is a disturbing trend. Is it the roster or the coaching. It has to be one or the other.

They don’t really have many impressive wins away from home those two seasons. 
 

Their best road win is probably either Iowa or Washington last year. 

 

That 9/26 game against USC is gonna cause one of those fanbases to start Crashing out. 

[mamasa]

Gift from my kids! (Was supposed to be a bourbon glass, but…$

[Stuhoo]

A must read for training camp intell from The Daily Hoosier. Young players on the rise and Nick Marsh’s dominance:

https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/iu-football-fall-camp-2026-week-2-notes/

[Demo]

Pretty decent breakdown on Hoover as a player. Dude seems to have a fair idea what he’s watching. 

[Demo]

1 hour ago, Stuhoo said:

A must read for training camp intell from The Daily Hoosier. Young players on the rise and Nick Marsh’s dominance:

https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/iu-football-fall-camp-2026-week-2-notes/

Yeah, it’s football so I halfway, at best, know what I’m watching and maybe I’m just enamored of the glaring toolkit, but, man, when you watch the Marsh video and all the stuff he’s got if the light is fully on there other than Smith who in the B1G, hell, in the country, has the potential to be any more dominant than that kid? He doesn’t just look like an NFL guy, he looks like an NFL GUY. Somebody want to tell me that a Davante Adams was more tooled up at 19 than Marsh?