Southern Indiana Bobcats host Indy Bison Red Saturday Night
The Southern Indiana Bobcats Semi Pro Football Team will host the Indy Bison Red in Blue Collar League Western Conference battle Saturday Night at 7pm at Edgewood HS. This will be the first of two regular season matchups with the second matchup coming July 1st when the Bison Red host the Bobcats. Tickets for Saturday Night’s game are $10 and available at the gate. All Active and Military Veterans along with Kids 17 and under are admitted free. The Bobcats will host youth football night as they will be honored before the game and at halftime.
The Bobcats are 1-1 on the season after a 29-14 win over the Kentucky Spartans last Saturday in Owensboro Kentucky for the organization’s first win. Marquise Holt ran for 94 yards and touchdown along with a 2 reception 66-yard 2 touchdown performance from Parker Osborn. The Bobcats defense forced 7 turnovers and have 14 takeaways through the first two games. The Bobcats have thrown 3 passing touchdowns, rushed for 1 and kicked three field goals on the season. The Bobcats know that Indy Bison Red is going to be very a physical football team that will stack the box and bring a lot of blitz packages.
The Bison Red are 1-1 after a 20-8 loss to the Indiana Tornados last week and beat the Kentucky Spartans 40-6 in week 1. The Bison Red and Bobcats are first year teams with veteran Semi Pro football players on both sides who have played with and against each other for several years and know their strengths and weaknesses. This game is huge in the Western Conference standings with both teams at 1-1. The Indiana Tornados are 2-0, Kentuckiana Calvary 1-0, Kentucky Spartans and Lexington Bengals are 0-2. The Regular season is 10 games with the top four in the conference making the playoffs.
Indiana University Football learns of Big 10 Conference Football opponents for the 2024 and 2025 seasons
The Big Ten Conference announced its 2024 and 2025 football home/away opponents for each school on Thursday. As the conference moves to the 16-team, no division format, the Indiana football program will host five games during the 2024 season and have four conference home contests in 2025.
The Hoosiers home and away opponents will be as follows (listed alphabetically):
2024 Home: Maryland, Minnesota, Penn State, Purdue, UCLA and 2024 Away: Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Wisconsin.
2025 Home: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Rutgers and 2025 Away: Illinois, Maryland, Ohio State, Purdue, USC.
Dates for the 2024 schedule will be announced during the 2024 season.
With the additions of UCLA and USC into the conference for the 2024 season, the Big Ten will debut the Flex Protect Plus model, which features a combination of protected opponents and rotating opponents for universities. Each member institution will continue to play nine intraconference games per season, and teams will play every other conference opponent at least twice once home and once away in a four-year period.
Conference schedules will include 11 protected matchups that will continue to be played annually and feature a combination of historic and geographic rivalries, as well as trophy games. These matchups, which includes Indiana-Purdue, were finalized in conjunction with all 16 member institutions to ensure the traditions of the Big Ten Conference remain strong as the conference evolves. The two-play opponents for each member institution will change every two years. The 2024 season will conclude with the annual Big Ten Football Championship Game, which will feature the top two teams in the overall conference standings at the end of the regular season, with the winner earning the Big Ten Championship. Tiebreaking procedures will be announced later.
The 2024 and 2025 opponent rotations were approved by the Big Ten Administrators Council after careful consideration and constructs that included: Maintaining control and flexibility as the college football postseason format evolves, with the goal to create access for programs into an expanded College Football Playoff. Balance of annual travel by distance, regions of the conference, and time zones. Balance of historic competitiveness and recent competitive trends, including home/away balance of traditionally competitive schools. Balance and maximization of television inventory each season.
Indiana University Student Athletes Beau Robbins and Margaret Rogers named Big Ten Postgraduate award winners
Beau Robbins (football) and Margaret Rogers (women’s swimming and diving) were named recipients of the Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship, the conference announced on Thursday. Two student-athletes from each of the 14 Big Ten institutions who plan to continue their education at a graduate degree program were each awarded a $7,500 scholarship, based primarily on academic achievements.
A semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy the academic Heisman in 2022, Robbins is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and has earned a 3.596 GPA as a finance major. Robbins appeared in 22 games over this final two seasons with the Hoosiers. After a four tackle, one tackle-for-loss in 2021 during his first season on the field, Robbins enjoyed his best season in 2022. During the 2022 season, Robbins logged a career-best 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.0 sacks. He started his first three career games on the defensive line and logged a tackle in eight of those 10 appearances. His first career sack came in the season opener against Illinois and added a half tackle for loss versus Penn State.
Rogers, who graduated as an honors program student from the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs with a 3.949 GPA, has been a leader during her time as a student-athlete. During the 2022-23 academic year, she served as the president of the IU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). In this role, she formulated a mental health initiative that was highlighted during football games and led the creation of a first-of-its-kind NIL mixer, which brought together local business leaders and IU student-athletes to explore partnerships. Rogers has also served on the Faculty Athletics Committee, the Dean’s Cabinet of Student Leaders and is a Hoosier HERO mentor for new student-athletes. In the classroom, she is a two-time Big Ten Conference Distinguished Scholar and a three-time Founders Scholar. As a diver, Rogers qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships three times as a member of one of the top diving programs in the nation.
Each Big Ten institution developed its own on-campus selection process when awarding the scholarship. Students must have maintained at least a 3.2 grade-point-average, demonstrated leadership qualities, served as an excellent role model and intended to continue their academic work beyond their baccalaureate degree at a graduate degree program. The scholarship will be used to pay expenses of the student’s postgraduate education to include such related activities as research and teaching, as well as other expenses such as tuition, fees, room and board, required course-related supplies and books. In order to retain the scholarship, the recipient must be accepted into a full-time graduate degree program within three years from the fall semester after selection.
Indiana University Softball Coaching staff named ATEC/NFCA Midwest Region staff of the year
The Indiana softball staff has been named to the Midwest Region Staff of the Year; the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced its 2023 Division I Regional Staffs of the Year Thursday afternoon. The Hoosiers led by head coach Shonda Santon, her staff including associate head coach Chanda Bell assistant coaches Gabbi Jenkins and Grayson Radcliffe as well as director of operations Cassie Hendrix helped lead IU to a 44-18 record on the season, including a runner-up finish in the Big Ten Championship with four honored on the All-Big Ten Tournament Team: Cora Bassett, Brianna Copeland, Taylor Minnick and Sarah Stone. Indiana earned the number two seed in the NCAA Knoxville Regional and advanced to the regional championship final.
Indiana set a new program win streak with 23 straight victories in addition to sweeping six conference opponents in Maryland, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers, Michigan and Michigan State. IU led the conference in every major offensive category including batting average, runs scored, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, total bases, slugging percentage, walks, hit by pitch OBS, and OPS. Stanton and her squad have coached three All-Americans in Copeland, Taryn Kern and Minnick with six being named to the All-Big Ten teams. Kern was also named the Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Year under the mentorship of Stanton. The Hoosiers earned six NFCA All-Region accolades. Copeland, Kern and Minnick earned First Team honors while freshman Avery Parker was named to the Second Team followed by Bassett and Stone who earned Third Team nods.
This award represents each of the NFCA’s 10 Division I Regions. Each of the programs who received this recognition are eligible for the NFCA’s Division I National Coaching Staff of the Year, which will be announced on June 22. Regional (respective region only) and National Coaching Staffs of the Year are voted on by active member head coaches.
Nathan Stone earns Second Team All American honors at the NCAA Championships Nathan Stone earned his second All-American honor outdoors in his collegiate career, clearing 5.45m/17-10.5 in the pole vault at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas. Tyler Carrel, making his national debut, was 19th after clearing the first three bars of the competition including a first-attempt clearance at 5.30m/17-4.5. Stone passed the opening bar before coming in at 5.15m/16-10.75. He cleared on the second attempt at the following three bars. He went for three attempts at a would-be personal best of 5.60m/18-4.5 before bowing out of the competition in 13th place. Five competitors cleared 5.60m/18-8.5 with the eventual winner Kyle Rademeyer of South Alabama winning the competition on a first-chance clearance at 5.70m/18-8.25.
The Hoosiers have now earned All-American honors in the men’s pole vault (top-16 athletes) at four of the previous five NCAA Outdoor Championships (2018, 2019, 2021, 2023). Stone has now been 13th outdoors twice in his career (2021 and 2023) and ninth indoors (2021) while also competing indoors in 2022.
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