Week 7 is a big one for the Ohio State Buckeyes. They hit the road to face the Indiana Hoosiers in a top-5 Big Ten battle, and they have a chance to avenge last year’s Big Ten Championship loss to the same program. Indiana comes in at 6-0, while Ohio State sits at 5-1 with the loss to Texas as the lone blemish on its resume.

The Buckeyes are slight favorites heading into the matchup between two of college football’s better teams. Ahead of the game, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum offered a revealing comment on how he feels about Ohio State. It also gave some insight into how he viewed the Buckeyes last year before they seemingly let him down.

Paul Finebaum looks back on Ohio State’s 2025 finish

Finebaum is known best for his SEC takes at ESPN, but he turned some of his attention to the Big Ten for this weekend’s matchup. He didn’t hide where his head is at going in.

“I’m really fired up about Ohio State and Indiana because I want to make sure I’m not wrong again about another school, being Ohio State,” Finebaum stated. “I probably am. Indiana I’ve never been completely into, but they won back a lot of me yesterday.”

The “wrong again” part is the key piece. Finebaum believed Ohio State was better than what it ended up being last season. The Buckeyes closed the year with two straight losses, first to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship and then in the College Football Playoff. That finish clearly stuck with him, and he isn’t eager to make the same mistake twice.

Indiana winning Finebaum back raises questions

What stands out most is Finebaum saying Indiana won a lot of him back last week. The Hoosiers struggled against an unranked Big Ten foe and escaped with just a 20-17 win. That’s not the type of performance that typically wins over doubters, and it’s not an opinion a lot of people are going to share.

Ohio State has the better win of the two teams with its victory over Iowa a couple of weeks ago. The Buckeyes have also handled their business outside of the Texas loss, which came in a tough road environment early in the season.

On paper, Ohio State brings the better offense into this game. The Buckeyes have the firepower to put pressure on an Indiana defense that has given up yards this season. Defensively, the two teams look similar. Both units allow their share of yardage, but both also rank in the top 10 in scoring defense. Points have been hard to come by against either side, even when opponents move the ball between the 20s.

Ohio State’s offensive edge could be the difference in a game where neither defense has been giving a ton away on the scoreboard. Indiana will have the home crowd behind it, though, and the Hoosiers have already proven they can beat the Buckeyes on a big stage.

With a top-5 matchup and a rematch of last year’s Big Ten title game on deck, this one should be a lot of fun. Ohio State has a chance to make a statement on the road, while Indiana has a chance to show last season wasn’t a fluke.