No. 22 Indiana still leaves much to be desired despite 3-0 start

The Indiana Hoosiers were the most polarizing team in college football during the 2024 season. Despite their impressive 11-1 regular season record, there was a significant debate as to how good they actually were and if they were deserving of a playoff spot given how weak their overall schedule was.

Not only did they play a soft non-conference schedule, their Big Ten schedule only featured one ranked team — Ohio State — that soundly beat them. 

This same storyline and narrative are going to be playing out this season. 

This time, however, we might get some more definite answers on how good Indiana actually is before it gets to a playoff discussion.

Indiana is 3-0 but has not been tested at all

The No. 22 Hoosiers improved to 3-0 on Friday night with a resounding 73-0 win over in-state rival Indiana State. In the Hoosiers' first three games, they have outscored their opponents by a 156-23 margin, which seems mighty impressive and a great way to open the year.

In a vacuum, it is.

But then you dig in deeper and see the three teams the Hoosiers have played are Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State. 

Which is not all that different from last year's non-conference schedule to open the season of Florida International, Western Illinois and Charlotte. 

Now, Indiana is far from the only power conference team that loads its non-conference schedule with soft opponents. Getting wins is what matters, and nobody wants to take unnecessary risks with their schedule, especially if their in-conference schedule is tough. 

The problem with Indiana is that its in-conference schedule in 2024 avoided a lot of the top teams, and it's not a program that has a track record of sustained success. Or success in big games against top opponents.

It made everything around the program a mystery and an intense debate as to whether or not it was all a mirage. 

In the end, with losses to Ohio State and Notre Dame (playoffs) by a combined margin of 65-32, it turned out to be a mirage. 

Will that happen again this season?

We will find out a lot about Indiana in the coming weeks

The good news for Indiana, and perhaps the college football playoff selection committee, is that we might not have to wait until November to argue about how good the Hoosiers are. We are going to find out in the coming weeks, and they are going to have a chance to prove themselves.

Over the next three games, Indiana will play No. 9 Illinois, at Iowa and at No. 4 Oregon.

That is two top-10 teams and a very respectable Iowa team that won eight games a year ago.

None of those teams were on Indiana's 2024 schedule, which already makes the conference schedule more daunting than last year's. 

That does not include the game later this season that Indiana has against the current No. 2-ranked Penn State. 

If Indiana goes into those games and loses most of them, and even worse, is not competitive, there is going to be no arguing or polarization in discussing what the team is. We will know the start is another mirage.

If Indiana goes in and wins two or three of those games, and is at least competitive in the games it might not win, they will have proven this year's team is better and not a mirage.

They still have to prove themselves. We still do not know how good they are. The next three weeks will tell us everything.