Indiana Football Kickoff Times Announced for 5 Games: When Will the Hoosiers Get the Spotlight?

It's that time of the offseason when the TV networks start to announce their selection of games for the regular season.

On Wednesday, the Big Ten Conference announced early-season kickoff times for its teams. Indiana's schedule features plenty of spotlight opportunities for the Hoosiers.

Indiana Football Announces Kickoff Times for First Wave of 2026 Games

For the third time under head coach Curt Cignetti, FOX's on-site pregame show, Big Noon Kickoff, will be in Bloomington for a Hoosiers game. The show rolled into town in 2024 for Indiana's 56-7 win over Nebraska and in 2025 for the 56-6 bashing of UCLA.

The FOX crew will be back outside Memorial Stadium for the Hoosiers' season opener against the North Texas Mean Green with the game kicking off at noon.

The energy should be high around the parking lots as the defending champs are back on the field, but late summer noon games in Bloomington can be uncomfortably hot.

Weather aside, this is a great chance for the Hoosiers to be celebrated again on a national stage and set up a fun day for the Hoosier faithful.

Noon Start in Week 2 (vs. Howard) is a Win For Fans

A noon Big Ten Network game is a win for Indiana fans? Why yes, yes it is. This game is perfect for the traditional noon slot. It's not a marquee game and gives fans a morning tailgate before enjoying what should be a Hoosier win.

The game should also be over for IU fans to enjoy the rest of the evening of college football, including the Ohio State-Texas game later that night.

Peacock Again? Week 3 vs. Western Kentucky (4 pm)

The groan from fans was audible through the internet as IU got another streaming game on Peacock. Money talks, though. The 4 pm kickoff sets up a great day of tailgating and enough time to catch the noon slate of games. It could be worse. Purdue plays at 11 pm ET at UCLA this week.

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Friday Night Lights vs. Northwestern in Week 4

Head Coach Curt Cignetti leads the team onto the field the Indiana versus Illinois football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Indiana's Big Ten opener will come on FOX as part of their Friday night football package. Fans in the Midwest usually hate Friday night games - that's for high school football. Beyond that, a weeknight game is tough for fans from further away to make it for pregame activities. While the optics of being on national TV again are a win for the Hoosiers, many fans hate this.

There is a silver lining, however. A Friday night game means it's another Saturday to watch all the games.

The week four slate does have games that IU fans will want to keep an eye on for College Football Playoff implications (LSU-Texas A&M, Georgia-Oklahoma and catch future opponents like Purdue-Notre Dame and Ohio State-Illinois.

Bright Lights in the Big City (sort of) in Week 5 (Indiana at Rutgers)

The Hoosiers will have a second primetime game (channel to be determined) when they head to Rutgers. The Hoosiers and Scarlet Knights will kickoff at 8pm on Saturday, October 3. There should be a large IU contingent making the trip across the Hudson to see their team. A late kickoff also means fans can go into the City and enjoy Friday night without having to get up early to tailgate.

The Rest is Yet to Be Determined

In classic college football fashion, other game times will not be announced until closer to game time. The Hoosiers' remaining seven games will likely be announced in the 12 or 6 day windows during the season.

It would not be shocking to see Indiana's October 17th game against Ohio State to be another Big Noon Kickoff game and the Old Oaken Bucket Game to be a primetime game to finish the season.

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