Way Too Early Michigan Football Opponent Preview: Week 7 vs. Indiana

Michigan will open the season with games against Western Michigan, Oklahoma, and UTEP in non-conference play to begin the 2026 season. Their first Big Ten games will be Iowa at home, followed by a road trip to Minnesota, and than another home game against Penn State.

In week seven they host the reigning National Champions, the Indiana Hoosiers. Needless to say, it'll be a big time opportunity for Michigan. Let's dive more into how that matchup looks pre-season below.

2025 Recap

In 2025, all things came up Indiana Hoosiers. They steamrolled through most of their regular season games before beating Ohio State in a close one to win the Big Ten title. From there then would go on the win the National Championship by crushing Alabama in the Rose Bowl, crushing Oregon in the Peach Bowl, and handling Miami (FL) in the final game to win it all.

They were led on the field by Heisman Trophy winner and #1 Overall NFL Draft Pick Fernando Mendoza, who threw for 3,535 yards while completing 72% of his passes with 41 TD's and 6 INT's. He also ran for another 276 yards and 7 more TD's. He had an incredible year last year and rightfully went #1 overall in the draft because of it.

The team in general was also elite around him. They ranked 3rd nationally in points scored, and ranked 17th in total offense. On defense it was even better, ranking 2nd in points allowed, and 4th in total defense. 2025 Indiana was truly a juggernaut, and they bring back a fair amount of experience in 2026.

Indiana's Josh Hoover during the Indiana football spring game at Memorial Stadium | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Moves made for 2026

Gone is Fernando Mendoza, but back are both of the Hoosiers' elite coordinators. Both presumably had chances to go be head coaches after their title run and both decided to remain at Indiana for at least one more year.

Also back is All-American caliber left tackle Carter Smith, star wide receiver Charlie Becker, and offensive line starters Drew Evans and Bray Lynch. On defense they do lose star cornerback De'Angelo Ponds, but bring back six starters on that side of the ball.

In terms of incoming transfers, they brought in TCU starting quarterback Josh Hoover who fits their play style on offense to a T. Last year for the Horned Frogs he threw for 3,472 yards while completing 65.9% of his passes for 29 TD's and 13 INT's. He did have a bit of a turnover problem with the 13 INT's, but with better wide receivers to throw to and a better running game, he should be better for Indiana than he was for TCU.

Also incoming is star Michigan State wide receiver Nick Marsh, who most Michigan fans probably already know. He brings a big-bodied presence out wide to compliment Charlie Becker on the other side. They also brought in Turbo Richard from Boston College to be the starting running back, and he rushed for 749 yards and 9 TD's last year at BC. Indiana has everything they need to reload for the 2026 season.

Indiana Football has coach Curt Cignetti during the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Why Michigan might falter at home against the Hoosiers

With everything Indiana brought back, and everything they brought in as well, they should be right up there as one of the best teams in college football yet again in 2026. Josh Hoover is another experienced quarterback who should fit in very nicely at IU. Turbo Richard is a nice piece to build the running game around. Indiana's defense should be in the top 10 in the country yet again this season with Bryant Haines coordinating it once again. All of this goes to say that Michigan will have their hands full in this matchup with the Hoosiers.

I do fully believe Michigan will be a better football team this year than they were last year. However; I'm not sure they made up enough ground in one off-season to contend with college football's best teams. While I'm not writing it off as an automatic loss given that it is at home, I would expect Michigan to lose this game based on what we know pre-season. Something in the neighborhood of a 30-24 Indiana win is what I would predict as of right now.

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