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Indiana football reached unprecedented levels last season winning its first national championship. This Saturday, there’s an opportunity for even more history, as the Hoosiers are hosting their biggest home game in school history.
Fifth-ranked Indiana hosts No. 4 Ohio State at Memorial Stadium, the first matchup between two top-five teams at the venue. It’s a rematch of last year’s Big Ten championship game, a 13–10 Indiana win en route to a 16–0 season. Indiana brings an overall 22-game win streak and a 19-game home win streak into Saturday, both the longest in college football currently.
“I’m glad we’re playing at home,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said to local media this week. “We really need our crowd to be loud and very involved. We got to give them reasons to be … It’s just a football game, but I’m glad it’s at home. Two really good teams. Great team we’re playing. Not sure how good we are yet.”
The Hoosiers will sport a new look on Saturday after announcing an expanded partnership with corporate sponsor Merchants Bank for a logo patch on Thursday morning. Last season, the two parties agreed to a 20-year, $50 million deal to rename the field at Memorial Stadium. Now Merchants’ logo will appear on all 24 varsity sport jerseys. Thursday’s announcement is the latest in a series of moves that point to Indiana’s continued dedication to becoming a new blue blood in the sport.
In August, the Indiana board of trustees approved a $50 million in financing for Memorial Stadium renovations, and also voted to petition the state for an additional $150 million capital project for further improvements to the stadium. A few days before the 2026 season began, Indiana and audio device company JLab announced a partnership expansion, which included additional signage throughout Memorial Stadium and an endorsement with starting quarterback Josh Hoover, who transferred from TCU this past offseason.
Indiana’s proof of concept began with a College Football Playoff appearance in Cignetti’s first season in Bloomington in 2024. A national championship the following year has accelerated revenue growth across the university, and there’s been a concerted effort to continue pushing the momentum forward.
“There’s no question that there’s tangible results that we’ve already seen,” Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson said to the Indiana Business Journal’s Off the Record podcast last month. “Across the board — fundraising, ticket sales, fundraising across the entire university, sponsorship sales, everything has skyrocketed. It’s been great.
“Our revenue generation is at a level right now that I only dreamed about. But I never dreamed expenses would be going at the rate they’re going, so it’s still challenging.”
On the field, the Hoosiers’ financial commitment has also been reflected in talent acquisition. In January, Indiana alum Mark Cuban confirmed to Front Office Sports that he’d made a sizable donation for the transfer portal fund. Headlined by future Heisman Trophy—winning quarterback and No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, Indiana’s 2025 transfer portal class ranked 25th nationally; this year’s class jumped to eighth nationally, according to 247Sports.
Experience continues to be at the forefront of Indiana’s roster strategy. Last season’s roster garnered attention for its age, as the starting lineup featured 17 players in their fourth year of eligibility or more.
This year’s team is slightly younger with 13 fourth-year or older players in its starting lineup, but 20 of 22 starters (offense and defense) are at least in their third year of eligibility. Overall, Indiana entered the 2026 season with the second-most starts nationally (527) and fourth-most snaps played (33,581).
“You have to give Indiana and their coaching staff a lot of credit for what they have been able to do,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said this week. “They have a very veteran team. These guys have played a lot of football. When you look at it, a lot of guys across all three phases have played over a thousand college snaps.”
A Budding Rivalry
Saturday’s matchup is the third straight year that Indiana and Ohio State have played, and the third straight year it’s been a top-10 matchup. The series has been historically dominated by the Buckeyes, but last year’s Big Ten championship game was potentially a turning point in the series. It’s also been a source of motivation from Ohio State’s standpoint.
“They took something from us that we really wanted,” Buckeyes defensive lineman Eddrick Houston said after last week’s win over Maryland. “[The Big Ten championship] was one of our goals last year. They took it from us. So it’s time to go to their place and handle business.”
Historically, beating Ohio State in back-to-back meetings has been challenging. Outside of rival Michigan, the last Big Ten team to defeat the Buckeyes in consecutive years was Wisconsin in 2003 and 2004. USC also bested Ohio State in 2008 and 2009 as a member of the Pac-10.
For Ohio State, which already lost to Texas this season, it would be the first time in 15 years that the Buckeyes suffered a second regular-season defeat by the end of October. The last time that happened was 2011, when Luke Fickell served as interim coach after Jim Tressel’s resignation.
For Indiana, Saturday’s matchup is another opportunity to stamp its staying power as an elite program nationally. In some ways, its legitimacy has already been proven. But another win over Ohio State—the Big Ten’s benchmark program—would create a marquee matchup series with both conference and national implications.
“Winning does a lot of good things, and I think that’s what happened,” Cignetti said. “You got an opponent that’s coming in here that’s used to winning and winning championships and is as strong a brand as there is in America, Ohio State football for years and years and years.”
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