By the numbers: Oh, how times have changed for Michigan, Indiana

Michigan Wolverines football opened as a 14-point underdog to Indiana, which sits at No. 8 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday night.

Until this week, Indiana hasn’t been favored to beat the Wolverines since 1968 — 56 years and 43 meetings ago. U-M won that matchup, 27-22, in Bloomington in Wolverine head coach Bump Elliott‘s final season.

Indiana is a deserving favorite, though. The Hoosiers have put together a complete turnaround under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti, who came from James Madison and brought 14 Dukes with him.

They’re 9-0 for the first time ever, and they’ve already tied the program record for wins in a season. This is one of three campaigns in which Indiana has reached nine victories, joining 1967 (9-2) and 1945 (9-0-1). That’s all after winning a total of nine games over a three-year span from 2021-23. Indiana is 6-0 in the Big Ten following a 3-24 stretch in conference play the previous three years.

Cignetti’s club has been dominant, winning by an average of 32.8 points per game. The Hoosiers haven’t exactly faced a murderer’s row, though, with their opponents combining for a 34-45 record. Only two of them have five wins on the season (the amount Michigan has) — Washington and Nebraska.

Still, winning is winning. And the Hoosiers aren’t just doing that — they’re covering spreads. They’re 8-1 against the spread this season, covering in eight-straight outings. Per Action Network, that’s the longest straight-up/against-the-spread streak in the country. The only teams to be on that long of a streak since 2000 are the 2024 Hoosiers, 2019 Ohio State and 2002 Notre Dame.

Michigan is 2-7 against the spread this season, only beating it in victories over Southern California (27-24 win as four-point underdogs) and Michigan State (24-17 win as three-point favorites).

The Wolverines are one win away from bowl eligibility, looking to avoid missing postseason possibilities for the first time since 2014, Brady Hoke‘s last season before being fired as head coach.

An Indiana win over Michigan wouldn’t just be another one in a long list of them this season — it would mark a rare feat. The Wolverines have won 42 of the last 44 meetings between the two schools and lead the all-time series 62-10. The Hoosiers’ last win came in 2020 (38-21 in Bloomington) but before that they hadn’t beaten the Maize and Blue since 1987.

Typically, Indiana has come in hoping to become bowl eligible, while Michigan oftentimes has bigger goals ahead. This season, that’s flipped.

By the numbers: Michigan vs. Indiana

4 Losses so far this season for Michigan, for the first time since 2020. The Wolverines lost three games in a 43-game stretch from 2021-23 but have already surpassed that in nine outings in 2024. Michigan has now lost four or more contests in 13 seasons this century.

7th Is where Indiana checks in nationally with 13.7 points allowed per game. The Hoosiers are second in the Big Ten in that category, trailing only Ohio State (12.0).

20-2 Is Michigan’s lead over Indiana in games at Memorial Stadium, with the Wolverines winning 12 of the last 13 at the venue.

28 Missed tackles on pass plays for the Michigan defense through nine games. That number is greater than the 23 missed tackles on pass plays the Wolverines had in 15 outings last season. Michigan has missed 16 tackles on rushes.

30th Or better is where Indiana ranks nationally in scoring (second), total (eighth), passing (19th) and rushing (30th) offense.

45 Pressures for Indiana defensive end Mikail Kamara, leading all players in the country according to PFF. The James Madison transfer has 17.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks this season. Indiana has seven players with 10-plus pressures.

57 Touchdowns for the Indiana offense, the most in the FBS through Week 10.

60th In the FBS is where Michigan slots in stop rate at 62.9 percent. Stop rate is the percentage of a defense’s drives that end in punts, turnovers or a turnover on downs. Michigan is allowing 2.10 points per drive.

73.3 Completion percentage for Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke, ranking tied for second in the country with Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and behind only Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel (74.8). The Ohio transfer has amassed 2,204 passing yards and 19 touchdowns with 3 interceptions this season. Rourke has now thrown for 2,000-plus yards in three different seasons, and 1,817 yards in another campaign. He’s appeared in 44 career games.