No. 4 Ohio State heads to Bloomington to face No. 5 Indiana on Saturday, Oct. 17, with kickoff set for noon ET on FOX from Memorial Stadium. It is a rematch of last season's Big Ten Championship Game and one of the biggest regular-season tests either program has faced in years.
College football hasn't seen a bigger regular-season showdown between these two programs, and the stakes go well beyond Big Ten standings.
A Rematch of Last Season's Big Ten Title Game
The Hoosiers and Buckeyes will square off in a rematch of the 2025 Big Ten Championship game, as IU defeated Ohio State 13-10 to claim the program's first win over the Buckeyes since 1987 and its first Big Ten Championship since 1967.
The matchup also brings together the winners of the last two national championships, with Ohio State capturing the 2024 title and Indiana completing its championship run in 2025. Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium has never hosted a matchup between two top-five teams, and it has never even hosted a matchup between two top-10 teams.
Jeremiah Smith Against the Defense That Has Solved Him
Cignetti's Warning
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti spent much of the week praising Ohio State's star receiver. “There is no one like him right now playing at this level,” he said, before adding, “He's a freak, and we're going to have to do a great job on him.”
On the season Smith has 916 yards and 11 touchdowns and has seemingly propelled himself into front-runner status for the Heisman Trophy.
A Missing Signature Moment
Despite the gaudy numbers, Smith has an odd blank spot on his résumé. Jeremiah Smith has never scored against Indiana, managing three catches for 34 yards in 2024 and eight for 144 last December. He is two touchdown catches from breaking the Big Ten career record, and one more 100-yard game would give him the most in Ohio State history, passing Marvin Harrison Jr.
Indiana's Chase for a Piece of College Football History
The Hoosiers (6-0, 3-0) will put a 22-game winning streak and 19 consecutive home victories on the line in the first meeting against the Buckeyes (5-1, 3-0) since defeating them 13-10 in the 2025 Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis. A victory would give Indiana 23 consecutive wins, matching Ohio State's streak from the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
Josh Hoover Steps Into the Spotlight
Josh Hoover gets his first real chance to showcase his talents against an elite program in Indiana colors, after the former TCU standout produced impressive figures thus far in his Bloomington career, and he'll hope to recreate those outings in a raucous Memorial Stadium atmosphere.
The Battle in the Trenches
Indiana ranks third nationally in sacks, eighth in tackles for loss and seventh in rushing yards allowed per game, while Ohio State is tied for 89th nationally in sacks and 87th in tackles for loss. That gap up front could decide whether Hoover has time to find his receivers or whether Ohio State's offense, led by Smith, controls the clock.
Ryan Day and Cignetti have a combined 115-15 record in their time at Ohio State and Indiana, respectively, and they are 1-1 against each other. The programs' rise mirrors other marquee top-five showdowns that have defined this college football season.
How to Watch and What's at Stake
The Week 7 matchup will be broadcast on FOX's Big Noon Kickoff with Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt on the call. Fans looking for an alternate streaming option can use Fubo and DIRECTV, in addition to FOX's own streaming service.
Both teams enter with 3-0 Big Ten records, making Saturday's outcome particularly important in the conference championship race. Ohio State enters the weekend with its lone loss coming on the road at Texas, a result that still looms over the Buckeyes' playoff hopes as they try to avenge last December's title-game defeat. A win in Bloomington would reestablish Ohio State as a Big Ten favorite, while a Hoosiers victory would make their case as the nation's best team impossible to ignore heading into the second half of the season.