Last week, we shared with you a prediction from noted national college football analyst Brett McMurphy that IU would play in the postseason in 2024.
And now we can share several more human predictions that suggest the outlook for Indiana is at least better than the algorithmic forecasts we shared suggested.
To be sure, no one expects IU to make the first 12-team college football playoffs in December.
But members of an eight-person team of experts at CBS Sports all have Indiana higher than the recent seeding predictions we’ve seen from, for example, ESPN’s computer-generated FPI and SP+ tools.
Three members of the CBS team called Indiana the “most underrated team” in the entire conference. Here is the statement from Will Backus, one of the three:
Indiana: We trust Curt Cignetti. The guy never had a losing season as a head coach. People thought James Madison would have a difficult transition to the FBS, but the Dukes have posted a 19-4 record over the past two years and finished the 2023 season ranked. The Big Ten is another steep climb in terms of difficulty for Cignetti, but he’s earned some trust. He also brought in a lot of key players from JMU to help ease the transition. Indiana isn’t a bottom-of-the-table team, and Cignetti has a good chance of getting the Hoosiers back to a bowl.
The CBS team’s view underscores something that seems obvious after reviewing a comprehensive poll of predictions for IU.
The computer models that heavily incorporate past seasons into their formulas are likely not prepared in the preseason to handle the complete restructuring — both of the coaches and the roster — that we saw in Indiana.
And even the Big Ten media itself, which has picked IU at No. 17, is probably a little too influenced by its intimate familiarity with the Hoosiers’ underwhelming recent seasons.
Conversely, the eight national media representatives from CBS Sports selected IU for placement in the Big Ten as follows:
- Dennis Dodd: 11.
- Tom Fornelli: 11.
- Chip Patterson: 14.
- Shehan Jeyajarah: 13.
- Richard Johnson: 12.
- David Cobb: 11.
- Jerry Palm: 11.
- Will Backus: 13.
Complete coverage of IU football can be found HERE.
The Daily Hoosier – “Where Indiana fans gather when they’re not at the meeting”
