Indiana football projected as underdog in nine games on 2023 schedule

The Indiana football program has struggled with consistency over the last few seasons and that has resulted in a dip in production on the field.

The 2023 season is a critical one for Indiana and Tom Allen in order to change the trajectory of the program. After a 14-7 record in 2019 and 2020 combined, the Hoosiers are just 6-18 over the last two seasons.

Heading into this season, the underdog theme will be very prevalent with Indiana. According to The Action Network, who published their power rankings on Wednesday, Indiana football will be an underdog in nine games next season. That is fourth most in college football.

Number of games projected as underdog in 2023 via @_Collin1 power ratings:
 
12-Stanford, Western Michigan

11-Charlotte, Colorado, FIU, Kent State, Nevada, ODU, UAB, UMass, Virginia Tech

10-Boston College, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, Rutgers, Texas State, Tulsa, Vanderbilt…

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 5, 2023

Tied at nine games with Indiana are Arkansas State, East Carolina, Georgia Tech, ULM, Louisiana Tech, Northwestern, USF and Utah State.

The three teams that Indiana is projected to be favored in are against Rutgers, Akron and Indiana State (FCS).

The low projections for Indiana are a common theme this offseason. Athlon Sports predicts Indiana to finish last in the Big Ten East with a 4-8 record. 247Sports also predicts Indiana to go 3-9 overall and 1-8 in Big Ten play in 2023.

The Hoosiers open their season up in Bloomington on September 2 against Ohio State.

“This chapter (spring practice) is done, and now moving into the best summer we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Allen said on following the end of spring practice. “Everybody has to elevate and continue to work, and that’s what we need to do as a staff, our strength staff, who do a tremendous job of taking the baton now and finishing strong.”

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