Indiana Cancels 2027 UMass Game, Draws Fan Criticism

9:13 PM ETDeveloping

Sports Desk

In Short: Indiana football has canceled its 2027 matchup with UMass and received criticism for its weak non-conference schedule.

Indiana football announced on Tuesday that it would cancel its 2027 game against UMass and replace it with a matchup against Jacksonville State, drawing criticism from fans and analysts.

Fans and analysts have long criticized Indiana's non-conference schedule for being too weak, despite the team's status as defending national champions.

Some fans speculated that Indiana's decision to cancel the UMass game was due to UMass' strong start to the season, which included a win over Rutgers.

Indiana's coach, Jim Harbaugh, defended the team's scheduling strategy, stating, 'I don't watch the highlights. I don't care. I look at Ohio State's close loss to Texas as a much better performance than playing Howard. Why would you look at that? I don't think it should count.'

The team's decision to cancel the UMass game and replace it with Jacksonville State has further fueled the criticism, with some questioning the strength of Indiana's upcoming schedule.

What's still developing

"Indiana's 2-0 to me," Meyer said on The Triple Option podcast.
To be fair to Indiana, plenty of college football fans and analysts criticized its schedule last year, and the Hoosiers went on to prove that they were the best team in the country.
With a relatively easy schedule again this year, Indiana will once again look to prove its doubters wrong.

Sources

Bleacher Reportlink