BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana’s 2025 opponents were already known, but on Wednesday the Big Ten officially released next season’s football schedules.

They follow the same format with nine Big Ten games and three non-conference games. In the second year of the expanded 18-team Big Ten, Indiana will face reigning Big Ten champion Oregon for the first time as a conference opponent. However, Indiana’s first Big Ten matchup against USC will have to wait until 2026.

The rosters are sure to see a lot of changes between now and the first week of next season, and Indiana is no exception. That makes some factors in the 2025 schedule unknown, but there are still a few key takeaways.

Here’s a look at Indiana’s full 2025 schedule.

Another smooth runway

Indiana opens the season with three non-conference games, which it should handle without much opposition. Old Dominion posted a 5-7 record this year and has won more than six games just once since becoming an FBS program. Kennesaw State went 2-10 in its first season in the FBS. And Indiana State went 4-8 at the FCS level. Similar to opening the 2024 season with FIU and Western Illinois, this gives Indiana a chance to establish itself and gain some confidence before Big Ten play begins.

Indiana could also benefit from opening Big Ten play with a home game rather than facing its first big challenge of the season in a daunting away environment. The Hoosiers host Illinois on September 20th, which shouldn’t be a walk in the park after a 9-3 loss this season. But it’s cheaper than some of the upcoming away games.

Challenging road trips

Indiana did not face the two teams that reached the Big Ten Championship this season, Oregon and Penn State. That’s simply the nature of the expanded conference, in which no team plays more than half of the 18 Big Ten teams in a season.

But in 2025, Indiana will have two road games that could be as difficult as any. On Oct. 11, the Hoosiers travel to Oregon, the No. 1 seed in this year’s College Football Playoff. This is only the fourth time the Hoosiers and Ducks have met, the previous meetings coming in 2004, 1964 and 1963. Oregon won two of those three games. On the positive side, Indiana has a week to prepare for the Ducks after the road game at Iowa.

Less than a month later, the Hoosiers travel east to Penn State, this year’s No. 6 College Football Playoff seed. Indiana has never won a game at Beaver Stadium and has a 2-25 record against the Nittany Lions. Aside from trips to Oregon and Penn State, Indiana ends the season on the road in three of its final four games, making the win even more important to start the season.

A familiar face is coming to Bloomington

Indiana co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri officially announced Wednesday that he has accepted the position of UCLA’s offensive coordinator for next season. Sunseri had success with Indiana’s second-team All-Big Ten quarterback Kurtis Rourke in 2024, and he coached three quarterbacks to conference player of the year honors at James Madison in 2021-23.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti retained the nine other assistants on his staff for 2024, thanks to an increased assistant salary pool of $11 million in his new contract. But on Oct. 25, Sunseri will be on the opposing sideline at Memorial Stadium, calling the plays for UCLA’s offense. It will be an interesting matchup against Cignetti and Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines, who obviously know Sunseri well from their time together at Indiana and James Madison.

No Ohio State, Michigan

In some ways, the 2024 Indiana football season still felt like competing in the old Big Ten Conference. Indiana played against traditional opponents such as Purdue and Michigan State and won the Old Oaken Bucket and Old Brass Spittoon rivalry trophies. The Hoosiers also tested themselves against traditional powers like Ohio State and Michigan.

But games against UCLA and Washington brought with them the unfamiliar reality of conference expansion, and that sentiment could be even more pronounced in 2025. Indiana has played Ohio State and Michigan more than 70 times each in program history, but will not face either program next season. This is the first time since the 2008 season that neither team is on the Hoosiers’ schedule.

Indiana’s 2025 roster is full of non-traditional Big Ten teams, including Oregon (2024), UCLA (2024), Maryland (2014) and Penn State (1990).