The Wolverines are set to return to the Big Ten's biggest spotlight.
Michigan football (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) will take on defending national champion No. 4 Indiana (6-0, 3-0) at noon on Fox in Week 8, Saturday, Oct. 17 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.
The Hoosiers have won 22 consecutive games, but it will be an extremely tough task to make that 23 straight given they host No. 5 Ohio State in Bloomington, Indiana in Week 7.
This will be the third time Michigan plays on Fox's Big Noon kickoff in 2026, having split the first two matchups, knocking off Oklahoma 17-10 in Week 2 before recently losing to Minnesota, 20-14, prior to the bye week in Minneapolis.
Michigan hasn't had the season it hoped for in the first year under Kyle Whittingham, having lost
two consecutive contests and dropping to 0-2 in Big Ten play for just the second time since 1967 (2014 was the other, the final year of Brady Hoke's tenure).
Much of the problem has resided on the offensive side of the ball, where Jason Beck's attack has failed to score 20 points in four of five games. U-M has had problems with turnovers on both sides of the ball and its minus-4 margin is tied for last in the Big Ten (Rutgers) and ranks No. 122 out of 138 teams across the FBS.
Indiana, meanwhile, is ranked No. 19 in rushing (221.3 yards per game), No. 60 in passing (241.3) and No. 14 in scoring (40.3 points per game), though some of those numbers were padded by an extremely soft nonconference schedule. The Hoosiers have two running backs (Turbo Richard and Lee Beebe Jr.) who've run for more than 550 yards and two wide receivers (Charlie Becker and MSU transfer Nick Marsh) who have more than 525 receiving yards.
Quarterback Josh Hoover has 17 passing touchdowns and has yet to throw an interception this year, but IU has had to survive a pair of upset bids in recent weeks, squeaking out a 29-23 win over Northwestern and coming from down double figures to top Nebraska, 20-17.
U-M and IU last met in 2024, the first year of the Curt Cignetti era when the Hoosiers went up two touchdowns in the first half, then held on for a 20-15 victory in Bloomington. Michigan hasn't lost consecutive games to Indiana since doing so in 1958 and 1959.
Indiana is 33-2 since the start of 2024.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football will return to Big Ten's biggest spotlight vs Indiana
