The Indiana Hoosiers and the Louisville Cardinals are in the process of canceling the final two games of their three-game football series, according to a report by the Bloomington Herald-Times.
Indiana and Louisville originally scheduled a three-game series back in 2015, which is set to begin this season on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind., the home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts. The series was then set to move to campus sites for the second and third games of the series.
In the second contest, Indiana was slated to travel to take on Louisville at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium in Louisville, Ky., on Sept. 7, 2024. The third and final game of the series was set to be contested at Indiana’s Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind., on Sept. 6, 2025.
According to a copy of an amendment obtained by FBSchedules.com from the University of Indiana via an open records request last month, the two schools agreed to scrap the game in 2025. The amendment was electronically signed by Indiana’s Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration, Dwayne Pinkney, but was not signed by the athletic director of either school at the time of our request last month.
As a result of the cancellation, the document indicates that “…neither party shall have any obligation to the other Party”, which includes “financial obligations” stipulated in the original contract. A breach of agreement or failure to appear in the original contract was $1 million per game.
In a separate report on Monday, the Bloomington Herald-Times stated that a source at Indiana indicated the game in 2024 will be canceled as well. Should the 2024 game not be canceled mutually, Indiana will owe Louisville a $1.3 million cancellation fee because the notice came less than two years before the date of the scheduled game, per the terms of the original contract.
Indiana and Louisville have met twice on the gridiron in their history. The Hoosiers won both games, 41-28 in 1985 and 21-0 in 1986, and both were played in Bloomington.
Football Schedules
Indiana will now schedule an FCS team in 2024 and a group of 5 team in 2025. What a joke!
Unless this means that the Big Ten is going to 10 conference games next year.
I don’t think 10 conference games is likely so I didn’t even mention it.
10 B10 conference games just seems so unlikely because:
1. The powerhouse programs all want at least 7 home games a year and already have OOC away games scheduled for the rest of this decade.
2. The B10 won’t be paid for those extra conference games as the TV deals have been agreed to until 2030.
What seems more likely is that IU has decided they want to average 7 home games as well every year.
Tom Allen is a weak coach and wants a weak schedule.
Eh, he’s probably doing the best anyone can at IU. It’s tough to win there with OSU and UMich right by you and ND in your state. And you’re not even the only public flagship in your medium-population state.
At least getting out of the B10E will help.
Agreed hopefully he’ll be coaching elsewhere in 2024.
No why to this story. I guess both schools want to beat up on some more FCS teams to pad their records. I wish NCAA would step in and not count FBS wins over FCS teams as “bowl eligible wins”. In fact I wish power 5 conference teams could only play power 5 teams. Tired of University of Kentucky winning the MAC every year.
There’s no “why” because neither school has commented. So just guessing that one of the schools, likely Indiana, wants to make their schedule easier.
Jack,
I do think that the Division I-A vs. Division I-AA games should be abolished and I 100% agree with you that a Division I-A school should not be allowed to count a win over a Division I-AA school for bowl eligibility. OR PERHAPS THE APPROACH SHOULD BE IF YOU LOSE TO A DIVISION I-AA SCHOOL THEN YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY INELIGIBLE FOR A BOWL GAME. ;-)