After people spent all of 2024 discounting Indiana’s run to the College Football Playoff, the same was forming in 2025 following the easy non-conference schedule. The Hoosiers' talent was going to be a facade until they played a top 10 team, where it would be exposed as a fraud and be dismissed.
Does Indiana have your attention now?
The Hoosiers proved their legitimacy with an emphatic statement, running all over No. 9 Illinois in a 63-10 win. You'd think this was another game against an FCS team with how Indiana dominated this matchup, making a top 10 team look nowhere near the level of Indiana. It was a disaster for the Fighting Illini as the game ruined their own hopes as a playoff contender.
Many people figured Saturday, Sept. 20 would be when the real, unworthy Indiana would show up, that way they wouldn't have to deal with listening to the Hoosiers reason why they deserve a seat at the lunch table for the rest of the season. Instead, they took Illinois' lunch money − and are on the hunt for more.
There's still a long way to go with plenty more tests, but Indiana has made the doubters shut up with a signature victory, and they lead the best and worst things from Week 4 of college football.
