Indiana football coach Tom Allen released a statement Friday addressing alterations the Hoosiers made to their uniforms ahead of their Outback Bowl game against Ole Miss.
Prior to Saturday’s game in Tampa, the Hoosiers had been photographed with the Big Ten Conference logo covered by the letters “LEO” on their helmet bumper and by the Outback Bowl patch on their jerseys.
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The move started to gain buzz on the Internet as a message by the Hoosiers to the conference. Indiana (6-1), No. 11 in the College Football Playoff rankings, were not picked as the Big Ten representative in the Citrus Bowl despite having a better record and ranking than two-loss No. 14 Northwestern, who beat Auburn 35-19 on Friday.
In a statement to ESPN, Allen said LEO is the program’s mantra — Love Each Other.
“This season has been the most trying we will ever experience, and we felt it was appropriate to showcase LEO, which has carried us through one of the most historic years in Indiana Football history,” Allen said. “We did not intend to show any disrespect to anyone.
“We are a proud member of the Big Ten and are always representing our conference. LEO is the foundation of our program and we want to bring in 2021 focusing on our team and Love Each Other. LEO!”
How we got here
Bob Kravitz, Indiana columnist: The day the Hoosiers got snubbed by the CFP committee in concert with the Big Ten, Allen took the high road, saying it was neither the time nor the place to share his true feelings on IU’s bowl situation.
Apparently, that time is now.
IU was and continues to be upset by two matters: They’re upset the Big Ten changed its minimum-game eligibility rules to put Ohio State in the conference title game instead of IU. And they’re upset the league chose two-loss Northwestern over IU for the Citrus Bowl.
What Allen's comments mean
Kravitz: Maybe IU figured nobody would notice the uniform alteration. Regardless, it’s now a storyline for Saturday’s Outback Bowl.
Yes, it’s petty.
Yes, it’s awesome.
Was it an intentional show of disrespect for the Big Ten? Of course it was, regardless of Allen’s statement to the contrary. The coach and his team have been stewing about this since the bowl announcement. IU lost just one game all year, a seven-point loss against Ohio State and the Hoosiers believed they deserved better from the committee and the conference. Can you blame them?
(Photo: Doug McSchooler / Associated Press)
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