Indiana is 6-0 and carrying the longest active winning streak in college football at 22 games. No. 5 in the AP poll, one of nine unbeaten FBS teams, and the Hoosiers meet No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday.
A win makes it 23 straight and ties the CFP-era record set under Urban Meyer, a streak that ended in 2015.
It would also be the third time Indiana has beaten Ohio State in 32 meetings.
The History Is Absurd
Thirty-two games, two Indiana wins. The last one before this current era came in 1988.
That is the number that explains why this game is being treated as a referendum rather than a matchup between the fourth and fifth ranked teams in the country. For most of the past century, Indiana football existed as a scheduling convenience for Ohio State.
Then Curt Cignetti arrived and the Hoosiers won the 2025 Big Ten Championship Game 13-10 over Ohio State. So the drought is technically over, and Saturday is about whether it was a one-off.
What Ohio State Has
The Buckeyes are 5-1 and fourth in the AP poll, with receiver Jeremiah Smith sitting as the Heisman frontrunner on 48 catches for 916 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Those are not realistic numbers for a college receiver in six games. He is averaging better than 150 yards a game against Big Ten defenses that have had an entire offseason to plan for him.
Ohio State’s one loss is the reason this game carries playoff weight on both sides rather than just Indiana’s. A second one in October complicates a résumé that currently has no bad results on it.
Indiana Is Not Sneaking Up on Anyone
That is the difference from a year ago. The 2025 Hoosiers were a surprise that people kept waiting to see exposed. The 2026 version is 6-0, ranked fifth, and climbed a spot in the most recent poll after the week in which Georgia took over at No. 1 by beating Alabama 20-17 and Oklahoma knocked Texas from first to seventh.
Indiana has won 22 consecutive games across two seasons. Teams do not do that by accident or by schedule. At some point the streak stops being a curiosity and becomes the evidence.
The Case for Indiana
The Hoosiers already have the one result that matters against this opponent. They beat Ohio State 13-10 in a conference title game, which means they have a blueprint and the confidence that comes with having executed it once under maximum pressure.
Low-scoring is the path. Indiana won that game by keeping it in the teens, and asking Ohio State to win a 13-10 game is a different proposition than asking it to win a shootout where Smith gets 12 targets.
The Case Against
Streaks end, and they usually end against the best team on the schedule. Ohio State is that. Smith is the most dangerous individual player either team will see this season, and the Buckeyes have had a year to think about the title game loss.
There is also the simple weight of 32 meetings. Two wins in 32 is not a coincidence or a curse. It is a century of resource gap, and one great Indiana run does not erase it.
What to Watch
Whether Indiana can hold the game under 24 points, and whether anyone on the Hoosiers roster can take a snap away from Smith.
The winner is in the playoff conversation at the top. The loser is 6-1 or 5-2 with work to do, in the final season before the field doubles to 24 and none of this is as hard.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.