Indiana puts 22-game win streak on the line as Ohio State comes to Bloomington

Indiana has won 22 straight games, and the next one goes through Ohio State. The defending national champions host the Buckeyes at Memorial Stadium on Saturday on Fox. It is their second meeting in less than a year, after Indiana won the Big Ten title game 13-10 last December.

The streak already ties the second-longest by a Big Ten team since 1950, USA TODAY Sports noted. The only longer run is Ohio State's 24 straight from 2012-13. A win would move Indiana within one of that mark, make the Hoosiers the clear front-runner in the conference race and likely put them back in the conversation as the team to beat nationally. A loss would hand the Buckeyes that role, and the Texas defeat that has followed them since September would matter a lot less.

What this game settles is how good Indiana actually is. The Hoosiers have not faced a ranked opponent, and USA TODAY put their schedule strength 72nd nationally by the Sagarin ratings. Ohio State has already played ranked teams on the road at Texas and Iowa. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti did not oversell his team, telling USA TODAY, "Not sure how good we are yet."

Quarterback Joh Hoover, the TCU transfer who replaced Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza, has gone 129 attempts without an interception and averages 10.6 yards per throw. But the offense leans on big plays instead of long drives. It ranks 14th in scoring and is tied for 59th in first downs per game. The defense is the bigger change from last year. Indiana had 30 takeaways and a plus-22 margin in 2025 but has four takeaways through six games, and its one giveaway is a pace the outlet called unsustainable. Ohio State's Julian Sayin leads the FBS at 10.9 yards per attempt, and Jeremiah Smith has 48 catches for 916 yards and 11 touchdowns at midseason.

What it means for Saturday

The scores back up both sides. Indiana is 6-0 and has outscored opponents 241-71. That is 40.2 points a game while allowing 11.8, though the totals are padded by shutouts of Howard and Western Kentucky. Both Big Ten wins at home or against stronger teams were close: 29-23 over Northwestern and a fourth-quarter rally for 20-17 at Nebraska last week. Ohio State is 5-1 and has outscored opponents 256-79. Since the 24-23 loss in Austin it has won four straight by at least 17 points, most recently 45-16 over Maryland. The polls are split on the order, with the teams sitting fourth and fifth in each.

The visitors are favored across the board. Novig, one of 12 venues on this site's board, has Ohio State at -156 on the moneyline and Indiana at +153. On the spread, Ohio State is favored by 3.5 at +108 on Novig. Indiana +3.5 is -113 there, and the best price anywhere is -110 at Hard Rock Bet. The total is 50.5 on Novig, with the over at +102 and the under at -106. theScore Bet has the lowest number on the board at 49.5, with the over priced at -115. The venues are within a point of each other on the total and a few cents apart on the spread. Sportsbook hold ranges from 3.5% to 7.0% depending on the market.

The matchup comes down to whether Indiana's pass defense can contain Smith, and whether Ohio State can slow Nick Marsh and Charlie Becker. Those two have 1,057 of the Hoosiers' 1,448 receiving yards. Indiana won the December game by playing it on its terms. It needs to do that again to keep the streak alive.