The Indiana Hoosiers are a darling of the betting public, like the Ohio State Buckeyes, Alabama Crimson Tide, Oregon Ducks, Texas Longhorns, and TTUN have long been, according to FOX Sports' Patrick Everson.
Caesars Sports head of football trading Joey Feazel explained Indiana's rise in action in 2025, chalking it up to quarterback Fernando Mendoza perfectly orchestrating head coach Curt Cignetti and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan's offensive system.
That action, as Feazel explains, is heavily one-sided in the Hoosiers' favor, to the point where many are hunting the largest spread point differential that's available.
"The Hoosiers just go out and score a ton of points. There’s no slowing down, no matter what. That’s the kind of team bettors love," Feazel said to Everson.
"They continue to cover, continue to get Overs. So Indiana is one of the more popular teams to wager on, week in and week out.
"It’s one-way traffic toward Indiana. People are even laying alternate spreads, Indiana winning by three touchdowns or four touchdowns. And a team like Indiana is capable of doing so. We’ll need Penn State in all ways Saturday."
Indiana is 6-3 against the spread this season, which is pretty good. Ohio State is 7-0-1 ATS thus far.
Good teams win. Great teams cover.
Ohio State can win every way possible
The Hoosiers win shootouts, but the Buckeyes have proven capable of winning close games with defense. Credit to Indiana for holding a top-10 Oregon defense to just 20 points in Autzen Stadium, but they haven't held a top-ranked team to a single-digit point total all season.
When the margins get thinner in the College Football Playoff, or sooner in the Big Ten Championship, and the defenses tighten up, it's easy to foresee IU having problems given their play style.
As Joel Klatt says, there's complete, like Indiana is, and then there's complete like Ohio State is. There's a magnitude difference that's felt during the biggest moments.
The Hoosiers' biggest moment thus far was turning a beatdown at the hands of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in last year's CFP into a 10-point loss by the final whistle.
We'll see if bettors will continue to be mystified by Indiana.