Indiana Bowl Projections: SEC Showdown Likely Entering Week 2

Indiana won comfortably over Old Dominion this past Saturday, albeit not overly impressively. As Curt Cignetti looks for a more impressive showing this Saturday against Kennesaw State in Bloomington, Indiana looks to move to 2-0 on the young season.

As the second full weekend of college football comes for the 2025 season, I thought it'd be a good idea to take a national look at how Indiana is being viewed nationally. Rankings are one way to do that, but what bowl projections give an actual look at how experts nationally see Indiana's season going.

Here is how a handful of national college football experts see Indiana's season going, based on where they project the Hoosiers to end up this postseason.

Athlon Sports Bowl Projection:

Indiana heads to Tampa, Florida for the ReliaQuest Bowl where it takes on Texas A&M.

CBS Sports Bowl Projection:

CBS Sports also has Indiana heading to Tampa, but instead to face Alabama.

College Football News Bowl Projection:

Pete Fiutak of College Football News essentially has the Hoosiers playing a road game for its bowl trip, which he projects to be a date with the Tennessee Volunteers in the Music City Bowl (Nashville).

ESPN (Bonagura) Bowl Projection:

Back to Tampa, the Hoosiers go in this projection, playing Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss.

ESPN (Schlabach) Bowl Projection:

Yet another projection for Indiana to head to Tampa and the ReliaQuest Bowl, this time a new opponent though as Schlabach has the Hoosiers taking on South Carolina.

USA Today Sports Bowl Projection:

We close with a slight change of pace, as USA Today sends Indiana to the Music City Bowl, but has it playing Alabama there instead of in Tampa.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaway:

I get it, it's early and Indiana wasn't overly impressive against Old Dominion so nobody is going to dare to go on a limb and project the Hoosiers to make a return trip to the College Football Playoff.

Listen, if I had to place a bet on whether or not Indiana does, I'm betting no, and a considerable amount of money on that being the outcome, too.

However, Indiana doesn't have the 2024 cakewalk of a schedule, but it's plenty manageable. Since I'm not Curt Cignetti or a player, I don't have to worry about the "one game at a time" mantra and can instead focus on the entire season.

Beat Illinois in a home game, manage to steal a win at Iowa, win the games you're supposed to, and play respectable games at Oregon and Penn State, even if they both end in losses. Do that and maybe, just maybe, Indiana can be "this year's Indiana" regarding the CFP.