In the history of the IU football program, the team has only played in 11 postseason bowl games. The Hoosiers have lost their last four bowl games as well and haven’t won a game in college football’s postseason since 1991.
The most successful period of postseason play for the Hoosiers came during the late 1980s and early 1990s under former Coach Bill Mallory.
IU made a bowl game in 1986, 1987, 1988 1990, 1991 and 1993. The Hoosiers went 2-4 during this stretch of bowl games, coming out victorious against South Carolina in the 1988 Liberty Bowl in Memphis and against Baylor in the 1991 Copper Bowl in Arizona.
Prior to the Mallory-era, IU had made just two bowl games. The first one came in 1967 under Coach John Pont as IU made a surprise run to the Rose Bowl and lost to the University of Southern California, 14-3. Then in 1979, Coach Lee Corso led the Hoosiers to a Holiday Bowl appearance.
IU beat Brigham Young University in that game, 38-37, becoming the first and only team to beat BYU during the 1979 season.
In total, six different IU coaches have guided the Hoosiers to the postseason, but Corso is the only one with a winning record as the 1979 Holiday Bowl was his only bowl game with IU.
This season, IU’s path to a bowl game is simple enough. Like other Football Bowl Subdivision teams, IU can qualify for a bowl game with six wins during the regular season. But, the more wins the Hoosiers have, the better the opponent, location and prestige will be for their bowl game.
IU’s most recent trips to bowl games came in 2015 and 2016, The Hoosiers lost the 2015 New Era Pinstripe Bowl in New York City against the Duke Blue Devils in overtime, 44-41. In 2016, IU played Utah in what was then-known as the Foster Farms Bowl in California. The Hoosiers lost to the Utes 26-24.
Current IU Coach Tom Allen’s first game in charge of IU was that 2016 bowl game loss to Utah.
In total, IU has gone 3-8 all-time in postseason bowl games, and the corresponding postseason winning percentage of .273 is among the worst for Football Bowl Subdivision teams.
The Hoosiers started the 2018 season with a 4-1 record, putting them just two wins away from bowl eligibility. But, IU has lost three straight games, all against Big Ten Conference opponents.
With a 4-4 overall record after Saturday’s loss to Penn State, here are the possible bowl scenarios for IU depending on how many wins it finishes the regular season with.
