Indiana University Football is on a Bye Week but could Clinch a Spot in the Big Ten Championship Game Indiana football has its second bye of the 2025 season in the penultimate week of the regular season. IU is off this week, with only one regular season game remaining after the bye: the Old Oaken Bucket game at Purdue. Curt Cignetti’s team will be a heavy favorite in that matchup, and a win would secure the first undefeated regular season in program history. But even without playing this week, the Hoosiers could officially clinch a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game. They’d need two results to go their way today for that to happen.
Maryland (4-6, 1-6 Big Ten) needs to beat Michigan (8-2, 6-1) at SECU Stadium in College Park, Md. and USC (8-2, 6-1) need to beat Oregon (9-1, 6-1) at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore. If the Terps and Trojans win, Indiana would be in the Big Ten title game even with a loss against Purdue. IU would have the head-to-head tiebreaker over Oregon, but a three-way tie between IU, UO, and Ohio State would result in the Buckeyes and Ducks playing for the conference championship. And if Michigan wins at Maryland, Indiana would be on the wrong end of tiebreakers if the Wolverines upset OSU next week and the Hoosiers lost to Purdue.
If those games this weekend don’t go Indiana’s way, the Hoosiers would still reach the title game with a win at Ross-Ade Stadium. The Big Ten Championship Game is on Saturday, December 6, kicking off at 8 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. IU Athletics would have a doubleheader in Indianapolis that day, with men’s basketball facing Louisville at Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 2 p.m. ET.
Indiana University Football Lands Former University of Colorado Committ D’Montae Tims for 2026 Indiana football has picked up their third flip commitment in the class of 2026 this week. Tampa, Fla. based safety D’Montae Tims has changed his pledge from Colorado to Indiana, he announced on Thursday afternoon. The 6-foot-1 and 195-pound Tims attends Armwood H.S. He is a 3-star prospect, the No. 938 overall player in the 2026 class, and the No. 87 safety according to the industry average. “You can tell they’re building something,” Tims told Steve Wiltfong of Rivals. “What I liked most was how genuine everybody was. Indiana feels like a place where they’re investing in players on and off the field. The staff is locked in, the culture is growing, and you can see the vision. Definitely a great environment.” In addition to Colorado and IU, Tims also had offers from Georgia, Miami (Fla.), Missouri, Ole Miss, Iowa, Michigan State, Kansas State, Louisville and others. Tims is Indiana’s third safety commit in the 2026 class. He joins 3-stars Laron Dues and Jamar Owens. In total, IU now has 25 commits in their 2026 class. They now have a consensus national top-30 class of 2026. Earlier this week, wide receiver Lavar Keys flipped from Penn State to IU, and offensive lineman Ben Novak from Wisconsin to IU
Indiana University Volleyball sweeps Rutgers There was no looking ahead for the No. 17-ranked Indiana volleyball team (22-5, 13-4 B1G) on Thursday evening. The Hoosiers made quick work of Rutgers in a commanding sweep (25-17, 25-12, 25-15) at Wilkinson Hall. IU’s 13th sweep of the season matches a program record in the NCAA era (since 1981) and sets the team up for a top 20 showdown tonight against No. 1 Nebraska at 6 PM. IU’s offense worked at an electric pace on Thursday evening. The team hit .455 on the evening, the second-straight match the Hoosiers have had a hitting percentage of .450 or better. It’s the first time in program history that an IU team has hit above .450 in consecutive conference matches. IU’s three pin hitters recorded 31 kills with just four errors.
Freshman setter Teodora Krickovic dished out 32 assists and recorded four digs. Senior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles, playing in front of her family from Spain for the first time, recorded a match-high 13 kills on a .545 hitting percentage. Senior opposite hitter Avry Tatum added 10 kills while freshman outside hitter Jaidyn Jager had eight kills on 13 errorless swings (.615 hitting percentage). While IU’s offense was great, the defensive performance was even better. Rutgers hit -.042, the third-lowest hitting percentage of any IU opponent since the 25-point rally-scoring era began in 2008. The Hoosiers racked up 14 blocks in just three sets. It’s just the third time IU has had at least 14 blocks in a three-set Big Ten match since 2008. Senior middle blocker Madi Sell matched a career high with seven rejections. With the victory over Rutgers, IU broke single-season program records for both regular season wins (22) and Big Ten wins (13) – since the NCAA adopted volleyball in 1981. With three matches left to play in conference play, IU is in a tie for third place in the conference. The program hasn’t finished fourth-or-higher in the Big Ten in 30 years.
Class of 2026 Quarterback Cash Herrea Decommitts from Indiana University Football Indiana is currently without a quarterback in the class of 2026. California-based quarterback Cash Herrera announced Thursday afternoon he has decommitted from IU. Herrera had flipped his commitment from Iowa to Indiana over the summer. Indiana’s quarterback room for the 2026 season is a bit murky at this point. Starter Fernando Mendoza has another year of eligibility remaining, but he’s widely expected to be a first round NFL Draft choice next spring. His younger brother Alberto Mendoza will be a redshirt sophomore in 2026. Third-stringer Grant Wilson is in his final year of eligibility. Tyler Cherry and Jacob Bell will both be redshirt freshmen next year. Herrera is a 3-star and the No. 61 quarterback in the 2026 class based on the industry average. Presumably IU will pursue a new commit in the high school senior class. We’ll keep you up to date on those efforts.
No. 1 Taylor Women’s Cross-Country Captures Red Banner, while Halterman Repeats as Individual Champion at NAIA National Championships No. 1 Taylor captured the Red Banner as the 2025 NAIA Champions on Friday morning, while Jaynie Halterman repeated as the NAIA Individual Champion Friday morning. An incredible season got its picture-perfect ending for the Trojans as the team scored 90 points and had a quartet of NAIA All-Americans, finishing 19 ahead of second place Milligan and 46 ahead of Dordt. 90 is the tied-third fewest points scored in the NAIA National Championships in the past ten seasons.
Taylor took an early team lead in the race with all seven runners in the top-50 in the early going. At the midway point a pack of Dordt runners between 12th and 24th gave the Defenders a brief three-point advantage. Going int the final 1000m of the race Taylor was edging Dordt 101 to 103 with Milligan at 114. A strong finish by the Trojans gave them the edge and a comfortable victory. TU posted an outstanding team time of 1:47:38.2, the second fastest time of the season and third fastest in program history. A pair of Trojans recorded personal best times, with Catey Campbell running six seconds fastest at 21:43.0 and Sam Patterson improving on hers by ten seconds at 21:40.0.
Halterman repeated as the NAIA Individual Champion and bested her Championship record time from a year ago, finishing in 21:13.2, over ten seconds faster than in 2024. Halterman quickly took a sizeable lead and never looked back, increasing her advantage throughout and crossing the finish line over 30 seconds ahead of second place. Joining Halterman as NAIA All-Americans were Patterson, Campbell, and Noel Bass, each finishing in the top-20 for TU. Patterson led the trio with a 14th-placed finished followed by Campbell in 17th and Bass crossing the line in 20th with a time of 21:44.3. Taylor was the only school to have four NAIA All-Americans, with Milligan, Dordt, and College of Idaho each taking home three.
Halterman is a five-time NAIA Individual Champion in cross country and track with a plethora of chances ahead for the superstar sophomore. Bass ends her TU cross country career as a four-time NAIA All-American joining Sarah Harden as the only two Trojans to achieve that feat. Bass also ran as a freshman in 2022 when TU captured the Red Banner. Rebekah Firestone and Emersyn Funk rounded out the seven Trojans, as the senior duo finished 64th and 163rd overall. Firestone’s time of 22:25.9 is the second-fastest in her TU career as she continually improved in her time in Purple and Gray. Funk crossed the line in 23:27.2 after carding her personal best at the Crossroads League Championships.
Taylor finished the season undefeated against NAIA Competition in all six races, with the margin at the NAIA Championships the only time an NAIA Opponent was within 40 of TU. The Trojans ran five of the program’s ten fastest 6k times including the second and third fastest in the final two meets of the season. Three All-Americans return for the Trojans in 2026, including the back-to-back NAIA Individual Champion Halterman. The outstanding returning talent puts Taylor at the top of the National favorites for next season. Head Coach Quinn White was named the NAIA Women’s Cross Country 2025 Coach of the Year after capturing his second NAIA Women’s Cross Country-National Championship. White has been at the helm for all three of Taylor’s National Championships and is regarded as one of the best in NAIA history as he steps down from his role after this season.
A Pair of NAIA All-Americans Lead Taylor Men’s Cross Country to Fifth-Place Finish at NAIA National Championships No. 5 Taylor (113-15) ran an incredible race and finished fifth at the NAIA National Championships Friday morning, behind a pair of NAIA All-American performances. TU scored 247 points, eight behind Rocky Mountain in fourth and 42 clear of Southern Oregon in sixth. The Trojans clocked a team time of 2:07:21.1, three minutes faster than the time they ran at the same course earlier this season. The fifth-place finish is the third best in program history behind a National Championship in 2020 and a runner-up finish in 2019.
Nathan Burns continued his impressive form late in the season, leading the Trojans with a 28th-place showing, with a time of 25:07.6. Burns was the lead runner for TU in each of its final three races and collected his second NAIA All-American Award with a top-40 finish. Luke Harber also became a two-time NAIA All-American in his final collegiate race. The senior finished just behind Burns in 30th at 25:08.4 and has been top three for Taylor in all six races this season. Ryan Hanak and Joel Mumaw crossed the line next for TU. Hanak in 51st and Mumaw in 68th helping keep TU in the top five teams with times of 25:24.7 and 25:35.6 respectively.
Rounding out the scoring for the Trojans was Jordan Burden in 116th. The junior just over 26 minutes at 26:04.9. The final TU to cross the finish line was in step with Burden, as Jared Stayte clocked a time of 26:06.8 for a 125th-place finish. The senior class of ten athletes for TU caps an impressive four years, finishing 16th or higher at the NAIA National Championships each of the past four seasons, saving the best for last with a fifth place showing in 2025. Taylor graduates ten runners from this seasons’ squad but will return a pair of athletes who have ran at the past two NAIA National Championships and will continue to be a National factor in the NAIA.