Outside of Justin Fields, the story of the Big Ten right now might be Indiana.

The Hoosiers are off to a 2-0 start in the Big Ten for the first time since 1991 and are riding high after wins against Penn State and Rutgers. While those wins are nice, the schedule doesn’t get much easier the rest of the way for Indiana as it attempts to shake up the race in the Big Ten East.

ESPN’s FPI recently updated its projections for the Hoosiers. Here’s what the model had to say.

  • vs. Michigan (56.8%)
  • at Michigan State (81.2%)
  • at Ohio State (7.3%)
  • vs. Maryland (94.3%)
  • at Wisconsin (15.5%)
  • vs. Purdue (72.0%)

Woof. That is a heckuva a six-game run for Indiana. Getting Wisconsin as one of your crossover games is rough since there are plenty of challenges in the East.

Obviously, the toughest challenge will be going into Columbus. But prior to that, people will want to see how the Hoosiers handle Michigan. If they get past the Wolverines, the steam is really going to pick up.

So far, we’ve seen Indiana handle some tough challenges, especially in Week 1. There does feel like there’s a sense of destiny with the Hoosiers. But that sense may be all for none if Indiana comes out and loses in Week 3.