The Indiana Hoosiers have added the North Texas Mean Green to their 2026 football schedule, it was officially announced Wednesday.
Indiana will host North Texas at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind., on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. The Hoosiers will pay the Mean Green a $1.2 million guarantee for the game, according to a copy of the contract obtained via a state public records request.
Indiana was previously scheduled to open the 2026 season at home against the Colorado State Rams, but Colorado State bought out of the contract in order to schedule a “Border War” rivalry game against the Wyoming Cowboys. Per a report from The Herald-Times, Colorado State paid Indiana $100,000 to cancel the game, which was negotiated down from the $1.3 million specified in the contract.
North Texas was also part of a four-team swap with Indiana, Colorado State, and Wyoming. The Mean Green were scheduled to open the 2026 season at Wyoming, but that game has been rescheduled for Sept. 9, 2034.
Indiana and North Texas have met twice previously on the gridiron. The two schools split a home-and-home series, with North Texas recording a 24-21 victory in Denton, Texas, in 2011, before Indiana returned the favor in 2014 in Bloomington, 49-24.
After opening the 2026 season against North Texas, Indiana is scheduled to play two more non-conference games in Bloomington. The Hoosiers are slated to host the Howard Bison on Sept. 12 and the WKU Hilltoppers on Sept 19.
In Big Ten action in 2026, Indiana will square off with Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, and USC at home and Michigan, Nebraska, Rutgers, and Washington on the road.
In other non-conference action in 2026, North Texas is slated to host the UNLV Rebels on Sept. 12, visit the Texas State Bobcats on Sept. 19, and host the Houston Christian Huskies on Sept. 26.
Football Schedules
Indiana’s OCC scheduling is pathetic. The Big10 needs to require a 10th P4 game.
I see what you did there:)
There are plenty of power 4 teams that need an opponent. Big 10 should require a 10th power 4 team.
Kudos to the Mean Green for having the courage to play IU, as it seems the entirety of the P4 must be ducking the Fighting Cignettis in the non-conference.
Seriously, though, it will be interesting to see if IU has the ‘nads to cancel the ND series, which would include the first Irish visit to Bloomington since 1950 (interestingly, the only IU win in the last 22 games dating back to 1908 in a 30-game series to date). If they do, I bet they won’t get the Irish back on the schedule for a Bloomington visit in the natural lifetime of any regular poster on this website, i.e., until at least the 2080s or 2090s.
The ACC has had recent in conference “OOC” games (Wake-UNC, UVA-NCSU). If IU flat out refuses to schedule real OOC games, the Big Ten office needs to facilitate scheduling a conference opponent as a non-conference game instead.
What terrible / weak non-conference scheduling … two G5 and one FCS opponent every year until 2030 when IU plays Notre Dame. Big Ten should require one P4 non-conference opponent every year.
Indiana’s schedules are so pathetic that this is actually a step up for them,
If the Big 10 doesn´t start requiring teams to play ten Power 4 teams like everyone else, eventually they aren´t going to get the benefit of the doubt in CFP discussions. The Big 12 and ACC might even start being viewed more favorably by the committee because they require teams to actually play someone in the non-conference.