IU football picked to finish 5th in Big Ten by Athlon Sports, 9th by Lindy’s Sports

Two long-standing college football preview magazines are now available on newsstands and one is much higher than the other when it comes to IU football’s outlook for the 2025 season.

The Hoosiers are coming off of an 11-2 campaign that ended with the program’s first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff.

IU is projected to finish 5th in the Big Ten, according to the Athlon Sports 2025 College Football Preview and is projected to finish 9th in the conference, according to Lindy’s Sports College Football National 2025 Preview.

The Hoosiers are ranked No. 16 nationally in the preseason by Athlon Sports.

The full projected order of finish in the Big Ten, according to Athlon Sports, is as follows: Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, USC, Washington, Minnesota, Rutgers, Wisconsin, Michigan State, UCLA, Northwestern, Maryland and Purdue.

And the complete projected order of finish in the Big Ten, according to Lindy’s, is as follows: Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, Illinois, Nebraska, USC, Washington, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, UCLA, Michigan State, Maryland, Rutgers, Northwestern and Purdue.

The Athlon Sports preseason All-Big Ten team includes wide receiver Elijah Sarratt on the first team offense.

Defensive lineman Mikail Kamara, linebacker Aiden Fisher and defensive back D’Angelo Ponds are on the preseason Big Ten first team defense.

Sarratt was named preseason All-America second team offense by Athlon and Kamara was named preseason second team All-America defense. Fisher was named preseason third team All-America defense.

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza is considered the 5th-best incoming transfer in the league, according to Athlon.

The Lindy’s preseason All-Big Ten teams include offensive lineman Carter Smith on the first team offense, Sarratt on the second team offense and center Pat Coogan on the third team offense. On the defensive side, Kamara was named to the first team defense and Ponds was named to the second team defense.

Lindy’s named Mendoza as the 4th-most impactful transfer nationally: “With 4,712 yards passing in 19 starts, he offers the Hoosiers continued production as they try to stay nationally prominent.”

Lindy’s ranked Indiana 31st in its preseason national rankings.

In its national positional rankings, Mendoza is the No. 18 quarterback, Sarratt is the No. 7 wide receiver, Smith the No. 7 tackle and Kamara the No. 9 defensive end, according to Lindy’s.

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

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