Putting Up Numbers· college football

Indiana’s third-down conversion rate at home and away

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Indiana was 11.2 percentage points over at home and 5.5 percentage points under away over its last 25 games, 11 games against 8. The plain averages are 59.1% and 40.6%, a difference of 18.4%.

Indiana’s +16.7% at home vs away over expected ranks 1st of the 136 teams with 4 games on each side over their last 25 games through Sep 5, 2026.

third-down conversion rate a game over expected

A +16.7% difference in third-down conversion rate over expected at home vs away is rare: shuffle which games were at home and it comes up less than once in 100.

A +18.4% difference in third-down conversion rate at home vs away is rare: shuffle which games were at home and it comes up less than once in 100.

The games

at homeaway
Indiana’s games, last 25 games, each marked at home or away
SideDateGameResult3rd downsExpected
Oct 5, 2024vsNorthwestern (neutral)W33.3%44.0%
Oct 19, 2024vsNebraskaW55.6%36.9%
Oct 26, 2024vsWashingtonW53.3%43.6%
Nov 2, 2024@Michigan StateW20.0%45.0%
Nov 9, 2024vsMichiganW36.4%42.2%
Nov 23, 2024@Ohio StateL42.9%38.1%
Nov 30, 2024vsPurdueW50.0%47.1%
Dec 20, 2024@Notre DameL33.3%37.8%
Aug 30, 2025vsOld DominionW58.8%48.6%
Sep 6, 2025vsKennesaw StateW55.6%52.0%
Sep 12, 2025vsIndiana StateW75.0%—
Sep 20, 2025vsIllinoisW72.7%51.3%
Sep 27, 2025@IowaW40.0%45.6%
Oct 11, 2025@OregonW35.7%47.8%
Oct 18, 2025vsMichigan StateW62.5%49.1%
Oct 25, 2025vsUCLAW75.0%54.8%
Nov 1, 2025@MarylandW61.5%53.6%
Nov 8, 2025@Penn StateW41.7%51.4%
Nov 15, 2025vsWisconsinW58.3%45.9%
Nov 28, 2025@PurdueW50.0%49.8%
Dec 6, 2025vsOhio State (neutral)W46.2%42.7%
Jan 1, 2026vsAlabama (neutral)W64.3%46.9%
Jan 9, 2026vsOregon (neutral)W78.6%44.7%
Jan 19, 2026vsMiami (FL) (neutral)W37.5%44.2%
Sep 5, 2026vsNorth TexasW55.6%39.1%

Method

Read against .

  • Expected is an offense and a defense a team, fit over every game of its season between two teams in the table with the game being read left out, plus 0.6% in 2024, plus 0.7% in 2025, plus 1.4% in 2026 for the home team (the edge the fit finds once strength is in), nothing at a neutral site.
  • Each expected number is then fit to the season’s games: a game bears out about 50% in 2024, 56% in 2025, 40% in 2026 of the difference the model predicts.
  • The shuffle keeps the season’s shape: the games are cut in two where one date leaves the least variance, each game is read against its stretch, and the sides are shuffled only inside each stretch.
  • Indiana State has no other game in the table, so that game has no expected number and sits out the second figure.
  • Read against the season’s ratings as of Oct 31, 2026; the games are the ones through Sep 5.