What National Media is Predicting for Indiana Football in 2023

The 2023 Indiana football season is almost here, with coach Tom Allen and the Hoosiers set to begin their year on Sept. 2 against coach Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Here's what national outlets are predicting for Indiana football during the upcoming season.

What do other people think of Indiana?

It's a question that has long stumped many a philosopher, and yet, several national college football outlets have answered that very question entering the 2023 college football season. 

"Week Zero" of the season kicks off on Aug. 26, and Big Ten play gets rolling on Aug. 31 when Nebraska and coach Matt Rhule travel to Minnesota to take on P.J. Fleck's Golden Gophers. With the season so, so very close to its start, Big Ten prediction articles are everywhere. While most will be focusing on whether Ohio State or Michigan is the pick to win the conference in 2023, we here at HoosiersNow.com are focused on what big name sports writers think of coach Tom Allen and Indiana.

Here's what national media is predicting for Indiana Football in 2023:

The Athletic

Prediction: 2-10, 0-9 in B1G, Allen Fired During the Season

By far the most harsh prediction from any major outlet. The Athletic forecasted that Indiana not only stumbles to the worst record in the conference, but also ditches Allen with roughly a third of the season still to go. 

"[Indiana fires Allen] around Week 8 or 9," The Athletic's Stewart Mandel wrote. "That brief, glorious 2020 season is proving to be the aberration. IU will have no choice if this season is as woeful as the last two."

While one would like to believe the Hoosiers can beat teams besides just Indiana State and Akron, 2-10 is certainly a possibility. It would be hard for Indiana to justify keeping Allen after what would then be an 8-28 record over the past three years. 

However, one always has to keep Allen's contract in mind when discussing this potential reality. He agreed to a deal following the 2020 season that pays him nearly $5 million a year through 2027, and his current buyout is upward of $20 million. 

Even another catastrophic two-win season might not be enough to get Indiana to move on from coach Allen. 

Tom Allen is entering his seventh season as the head coach of Indiana Football :: © Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

ESPN

Prediction: 3-9, 1-8 in B1G

ESPN's Mark Schlabach did not write any reasoning in his prediction article as to why Indiana would go 3-9, but he did once again mention Allen as the "Coach on the Hot Seat" in the Big Ten. 

Schlabach also didn't detail which Big Ten team IU would get its lone conference win against. Although, given that he predicted dismal 4-8 records in 2023 for both Rutgers and Purdue, it's safe to assume he thinks the one win Indiana will get against a Power Five opponent this year will come against one of those two teams. 

Similar to The Athletic, ESPN's predictions have Indiana finishing last in the East, while both have Michigan winning the division at 11-1. 

Athlon Sports

Power Ranking: Have Indiana ranked 13th out of 14 B1G Teams

Athlon did not give a specific record prediction for the Hoosiers in 2023, but rather, they said the quiet part out loud — Indiana is the worst team in the Big Ten not named Northwestern. 

Similar to Schlabach's prediction for ESPN, Athlon has Rutgers ranked 12th overall in the Big Ten, and Purdue ranked 11th, both just ahead of Indiana.

If Allen's team is going to pull any "upsets" to win more than two games in 2023, it seemingly will have to be against either the Scarlet Knights or the Boilermakers.

The Sporting News

Prediction: Indiana Finishes Dead Last in B1G East

Same old story. The Sporting News thinks Indiana football is bad and will lose a lot of games. 

The one sentence mentioning the Hoosiers in this article says that, "Rutgers and Indiana will look to challenge for bowl games under Greg Schiano and Tom Allen." Which is like if I said I am looking to acquire one million dollars in the near future. 

Yes, it is very obvious that we both want those things, but neither is very likely to happen. 

The Bottom Line

I can't blame anyone for thinking that Indiana football will be bad in 2023. The quarterback situation is rough, the schedule is brutal and the team has, again, been the worst squad in the Big Ten not named Northwestern for the past two years.

However, some of this feels too dismissive of Allen and the Hoosiers, and unreasonably confident in other bottom half teams in the Big Ten. Rutgers football is nothing special and has to play at the homecoming game in Bloomington. Purdue is rebuilding practically its entire program after Jeff Brohm's departure. Indiana beat Michigan State in East Lansing last year, and Mel Tucker's team still is plenty beatable in 2023. There's a way to talk yourself into 5-7 Indiana or even (gasp) 6-6, bowl eligible Indiana. 

It probably won't happen, and those 2-10, 3-9 records are the most likely outcomes on paper. But there's a reason they don't play the games on paper.

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