I know this is a forum about Oregon Ducks, so I apologize in advance for posting Indiana info. Yet I found last winter after joining, B1G or even Indiana info was enjoyed by some. I saw this a few minutes ago on X and it was just too good not to share. MAYBE a few Duck or college football fans will enjoy it but I will say IT A IS LONG READ.

IU was OLD

So they avg 22 yo. So on average, they were already graduated with degree in hand? Seems like the narrative was pretty accurate to me. What am I missing.

Interesting point. I might have to go back and read the long post again. I think the main point was they were not the 24 years old, the average that ESPN was talking about and then was adopted by everyone else. 12/22 starters return and a few of them were sophomores last year. The other 10 were 5th year players, which would be 22 years old for a college student. Some were even spouting off that IU had 26 year olds playing.

Edited yesterday at 04:19 PM1 day by iubhounds

It's a B1G pond. Somewhere at some time, in 2026-27, Oregon is probably going to play the Hoosiers. How about in Vegas instead of Atlanta? 😁

With a 12-team playoff field, the performance of every B1G team matters. In 2025, the SEC did not deserve five teams in the PO field.

The SP+ and FPI strength-of-schedule rankings are home cooking at its best, or at its worst from a B1G perspective.

FPI ranks Ohio State's brutal schedule No. 8, behind seven SEC teams and ahead of No. 9 Texas A&M and SEC teams through 15 Alabama, with Michigan's schedule interrupting the Dixie love fest at 16.

13 SEC teams, 81.25% of the conference, are in the top 15. This is an SOS for the rest of CFB.

College football fans and journalists are catching on. Outside of Dixie and Bristol, Connecticut, this is LOL 'stuff' from coast to coast. The SP+ rankings are also SEC-centric; Georgia, at 25, has the lowest-ranked SOS. But I doubt the Grapevine Gurus are laughing, and that's the problem and why Tony P wants a 24-team field and nothing less.

Bring on the B1G stuff; Oregon does not play ball in a vacuum, and no one is forced to read anything on the Forum that they do not want to read.

3 hours ago, iubhounds said:

The other 10 were 5th year players, which would be 22 years old for a college student. Some were even spouting off that IU had 26 year olds playing.

Last season was the last season of the COVID shirt. Sure there might be a couple players hanging around. The trend since 2020 has been the oldest teams tend to win, it's hard to beat expirence.

Granted the talk about eliminating the redshirt and players playing 5 years going into the future regardless. Young talent is great but it needs to mature to win championships.

Seems to me that experience sticking around longer in college has made the game more entertaining. Thanks to NIL, guys stay another season and mostly improve their draft status and bring more wins too.

Allowing 4 games in a redshirt year is a good idea. I hope they keep it.

You still need top quality players from highschool. The portal isn't enough by itself.

2 hours ago, DanLduck said:

Seems to me that experience sticking around longer in college has made the game more entertaining. Thanks to NIL, guys stay another season and mostly improve their draft status and bring more wins too.

Allowing 4 games in a redshirt year is a good idea. I hope they keep it.

You still need top quality players from highschool. The portal isn't enough by itself.

Cig has had two very good recruiting classes back to back. Two QBs in each year a 4 and a 5 star. The recruiting class for 2027 has a lot of 4 and a few 5 stars. Winning helps recruiting. He said in his intro press conference when ask that he prefers HS recruits to develop them but "we have a lot of holes to fill and until that time we will use the portal."

Assuming that figure is correct, a 22 year average age is still quite old in today's college football game. Someone posted a chart in one of the other threads about average returning age and all the B10 contenders are basically around 20 years old....so that extra 2 years last season is actually a pretty big difference in maturity and gained football knowledge.

1 hour ago, kirklandduck said:

Assuming that figure is correct, a 22 year average age is still quite old in today's college football game. Someone posted a chart in one of the other threads about average returning age and all the B10 contenders are basically around 20 years old....so that extra 2 years last season is actually a pretty big difference in maturity and gained football knowledge.

Are those averages of B10 contenders the total roster. Because the IU 22 year average was from players that played regular and produced, not the average age of 105 players?

4 hours ago, David Marsh said:

Last season was the last season of the COVID shirt. Sure there might be a couple players hanging around. The trend since 2020 has been the oldest teams tend to win, it's hard to beat expirence.

Granted the talk about eliminating the redshirt and players playing 5 years going into the future regardless. Young talent is great but it needs to mature to win championships.

Teams like UGA, tOSU, Bama... tend to be younger (20 yo and younger). They get the most high 4 and 5 star guys. Elite talent jumps to the NFL at 3 years.

Oregon has stacked 4 classes in a row that fit this trend. Top 5 classes. The 26 starting units are not the norm and the 25 team was one of the youngest in all of college football.

Per Rivals IU recruited somewhere around 50th in 2025 and around 30th for 2026 and 27 class. Cig has to rely on the TP pretty heavy to remain at a high level.

IU are the national champs. I am jealous of that for sure. I am not sure that staying near the top of CFB is sustainable recruiting outside the top 10. We will see

18 hours ago, DanLduck said:

Seems to me that experience sticking around longer in college has made the game more entertaining. Thanks to NIL, guys stay another season and mostly improve their draft status and bring more wins too.

Allowing 4 games in a redshirt year is a good idea. I hope they keep it.

You still need top quality players from highschool. The portal isn't enough by itself.

DanL, redshirts have been torn up and tossed away. No more redshirts in college athletics.

You have five years of eligibility beginning with the earlier of when you enroll or turn 19 years of age. There are exceptions for military service and religious missions. Injured? Too bad because injuries will not extend your eligibility; we'll see if this holds up.

The Protect College Sports Act includes antitrust protection for the 5 & 5 eligibility rule.

2 minutes ago, DanLduck said:

Allowing 4 games in a redshirt year is a good idea. I hope they keep it.

You still need top quality players from highschool. The portal isn't enough by itself.

6 hours ago, Log Haulin said:

Teams like UGA, tOSU, Bama... tend to be younger (20 yo and younger). They get the most high 4 and 5 star guys. Elite talent jumps to the NFL at 3 years.

Georgia's back to back titles came with some pretty old teams that lost loads to the draft which meant they lost juniors and seniors and then reloaded and did it again the following year... And lost loads to the draft.

Those teams got old back in the day because of the wait your turn mentality.