COLUMBUS, Ohio — After Indiana’s shocking rise from Big Ten afterthought to College Football Playoff participant in 2024, the burning question becomes: Who‘s next?
On the latest episode of Buckeye Talk, hosts Stephen Means and Stefan Krajisnik identified a fascinating “triangle” of programs perfectly positioned to become the next surprise playoff contender in 2025.
The podcast introduced a specific tier called “New Indiana,” defined by Means as teams that could follow Indiana’s blueprint: “a combination of right hire at the right time, right usage of the transfer portal, but also a very favorable schedule where they maybe avoid having to really prove that they’re a playoff team for quite a while in the season.”
Three teams emerged in this category with remarkable consensus between the hosts: Nebraska, Minnesota, and UCLA. What makes this trio particularly interesting is that they all play each other in 2025, creating what Means calls a “triangle” that will likely determine which team emerges as a playoff contender.
“Their schedule reminds me so much of Indiana last year,” Means said about Nebraska. “You have a really tough game on the road… I think that might be the case for Nebraska. Beat Michigan at home and lose at Penn State. And you have a pretty decent path to 11-1 and making the playoff.”
Nebraska’s path appears most promising, particularly with five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola entering his second year. Krajisnik noted, “If Dylan Raiola takes the step, 11-1 might be their ceiling.”
What made Indiana successful in 2024 wasn’t just about their favorable schedule—it was about how they handled the teams in their tier and below. Means emphasized this critical point: “Indiana played at Michigan State and Indiana won by 37. How many times are Michigan State and Indiana the same tier? Like not only did Indiana go two and two against teams in their tier. They went undefeated against those teams.”
This becomes the key differentiator for whichever team emerges from the Nebraska-Minnesota-UCLA triangle. As Means bluntly put it: “I think whichever team out of this triangle of UCLA, Minnesota and Nebraska can do that consistently. Beat those teams that are equal or below them is going to make the playoff.”
UCLA has entered this conversation largely due to their quarterback acquisition, with the hosts noting how dramatically their outlook changed after landing Nico Iamaleava: “That‘s a lot of power for a quarterback,” Krajisnik observed.
Minnesota earns its place in this tier thanks to having “two dudes on their team that it‘s like these guys can carry you a decent, decent way,” according to Means, positioning them as a potential surprise team.
What makes this tier so intriguing is the element of surprise—the notion that something unexpected could happen, similar to Kirk Ciarrocca transforming Indiana from “an absolute nothing of a program” into a playoff team in just one year.
The timing of potential losses also matters significantly. As Krajisnik pointed out about Indiana’s 2024 run: “If they had lost to Ohio State in week three, I don’t think they make the playoff at 11-1 because we would have just dismissed them from the get-go.” The lesson for these “New Indiana” candidates is clear—timing your loss strategically can be as important as limiting their number.
For the complete breakdown of all Big Ten teams and their 2025 expectations, listen to the full Buckeye Talk episode where Stephen and Stefan tier all 18 programs and predict which surprise teams might shock the college football world next season.
Here’s the podcast for this week:
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Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from the Buckeye Talk Podcast by cleveland.com. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.
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