FIU vs Indiana Prediction College Football Picks 8/31/24

Why the Florida International Panthers will win

• Indiana has lost seven of its last eight games.
• Florida International has won three of its last four games against non-conference opponents.
• The underdog has covered the spread in each of Indiana's last five games.
• Indiana has failed to cover the spread in five of its last six games against non-AP-ranked teams at Memorial Stadium (Bloomington).

Indiana Team Preview

The Indiana Hoosiers will be out to bounce back from a frustrating 2023 season where Indiana went just 3-9 overall including 1-8 in Big Ten play for their third straight losing season and have just 3 conference wins combined in as many years. The poor season meant that Tom Allen was out in Bloomington, thus beginning the Curt Cignetti era with Cignetti coming over from James Madison after making the Dukes a force in FCS and moving them into the FBS and running roughshod without a hitch. Kurtis Rourke transfers in from Ohio to take over QB1 duties for the Hoosiers after being a stud in the MAC for the last few seasons and Tayven Jackson remains waiting in the wings for his shot if Rourke were unable to go.

Justice Ellison comes over from Wake Forest and Kaelon Black follows Cignetti from JMU to give Indiana a formidable two-headed monster in the backfield, while Elijah Surratt comes with Cignetti as well after leading James Madison in receiving last year with 82 grabs for 1,191 yards and 8 TDs. Zach Horton also comes in after logging 8 TDs last season.

On defense, the Indiana Hoosiers, bring in James Carpenter as a transfer from JMU after being one of the best tackles in the conference and Mikail Kamara is on the line as well after logging 7.5 sacks and 18.5 TFLs last season. Lanell Carr is back after putting up 5 sacks last season while Aiden Fisher is here after making 108 tackles for JMU last year and Jalin Walker comes over as well after putting up 61 total tackles. There are a lot of transfers coming over to help in the secondary as well, but early signs are that the Hoosiers could be a team on the rise in 2024.

Why the Indiana Hoosiers will win

• Indiana has won each of its last eight season openers as a favorite.
• Florida International has lost seven of its last eight games.
• Indiana has covered the spread in each of its last five home openers.
• Florida International has failed to cover the spread in six of its last eight games.

FIU vs. Indiana Prediction

I’m with Indiana here. I like what Cignetti’s done leading up to the opener and in the offseason, bringing in a lot of his guys and I think the continuity for a lot of pieces is going to help especially since it was a lot of the upper-end talent that Cignetti brought to Bloomington. FIU has some production returning as well, and this is a huge number for Indiana, but I think the Hoosiers win this one rather comfortably. Give me Indiana in this one.