Hoosiers will start conference slate against the west coast
By Carl James @jovian34 June 20th, 2025
The B1G has assigned the 11-week conference schedule and Indiana released their portion of that schedule today. Indiana’s release provides some hints about how the schedule may be built going forward assuming no further upheavals to the conference make-up.
As expected, the schedule will include a series against rival Purdue which is now an annual affair. The release explicitly notes that a series with Illinois is also an annual affair. The conference season will open with home series against Washington on March 6-8. The Hoosiers will then travel to Oregon on March 13-15. The pattern so far indicates that Indiana will face two of the four west coast teams annually (one home, one road).
In this breakdown I included the B1G finish and team records from 2025 as well as counts in the current transfer portal, per D1Baseball. For comparison, Indiana is listed as 12 transferring out with 1 transferring in. Our portal tracker includes more players for IU, with 15 out and 5 coming in as we include more non-roster players and more from other divisions compared to D1Baseball.
March 6-8: Home vs. Washington
Washington was 17-13 in their inaugural B1G conference slate (5th place) and 29-28 overall. The did not make the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies have 18 players in the transfer portal, 3 committed to transfer in.
March 13-15: at Oregon
Oregon was 22-8 in conference play and B1G co-champs in their inaugural season. They were a top-8 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, but did not even make the finals of their home regional. The Ducks have 8 players in the portal with 1 committed to transfer in.
March 20-22: Home vs. Minnesota
The Gophers finished 16th in the B1G with a 10-20 conference mark. They were 24-28 overall. They have 10 in the portal, 2 committed to transfer in.
March 27-29: at Nebraska
Nebraska is coming off back-to-back B1G Tournament championships and NCAA regional appearances. They finished 8th in the regular season with a 15-15 B1G mark, 33-29 overall. The Huskers have 11 in the portal, 2 committed to transfer in.
April 3-5: Home vs. Rutgers
The Scarlet Knights finished 10th in the B1G with a 15-15 mark and ended IU’s NCAA hopes in the B1G Tournament. They finished 29-28 overall and did not make a regional. They lost14 in the portal with 2 committed to transfer in.
April 10-12: at Maryland
The Terps are reeling after missing two straight B1G Tournaments finishing 12-18 (14th) in league play. While they only lost 7 in the portal, they have perhaps the biggest loss in the league with star shortstop Chris Hacopian, who is transferring to Texas A&M coached by IU Baseball alumnus Michael Earley. 4 are transferring in. Maryland went 27-29 overall. Indiana won the series in Bloomington in 2025.
April 17-19: Open Bye Weekend – Opponent unknown – likely a home series
Last year was unusual for the Hoosiers to be on the road for the bye-week. The impression I got from the staff was that was necessitated by the lateness of the B1G schedule due to the addition of the west coast teams and the uncertainty around how many series would be played.
April 24-26: Home vs. Iowa
Iowa made a splash with a 21-9 mark in league play in 2025, the only non west-coast team to secure a top-4 seed in the B1G Tournament (3rd place). The Hawkeyes had a lackluster non-conference going 33-22-1 overall. They lost 10 in the portal, 3 committed to transfer in. Iowa swept Indiana, but the Hoosiers did shut-out the Hawkeyes in a “dead game” at the B1G Tournament to conclude the season.
Scheduling note: This home series will take place on Little 500 weekend
May 1-3: at Northwestern
Northwestern just missed the B1G Tournament on a tiebreaker finishing in 13th place (13-17) while going 25-27 overall. They have 9 in the portal, 1 committed to transfer in.
May 8-10: at Purdue
Rivalry week will be played on grass at Alexander Field in West Lafayette. The Boilers hot start fizzled to an 11-19 mark (15th in B1G play) and failed to make the B1G Tourney. They finished 31-23 overall. They have lost 13 in the portal, 1 committed to transfer in so far. Indiana has won both of the last two series.
Scheduling note: This will be graduation week in Bloomington, but not at Purdue (who graduate the following week).
May 14-16 (Thursday-Saturday): Home vs. Illinois
The Illini are coming off a mixed bag 2025 where they barely made the B1G Tournament at 14-16 (11th) but still went 30-24 overall. 8 in the portal, 4 committed to transfer in. Illinois has won both of the past two series.
Looking ahead to 2027
Looking at what we know we can come pretty close to deducing the 2027 schedule now as well. As the two protected series, Purdue will come to the Bart, and Indiana will travel to Illinois. I am also reasonably certain that Indiana will host UCLA and travel to USC (alternating west coast schedule)
After that, I expect three of these four will come to the Bart: Michigan, Penn State, Nebraska, Northwestern.
I also expect the Hoosiers will travel to play three of these four: Michigan State, Ohio State, Minnesota, Rutgers.