Actual collegiate tackle football returns in just over a week. While we wait with bated breath, we’re sharing our visions for 2015 in the Big Ten, revisiting one of most enjoyable projects on the calendar: the best case/worst case scenarios.

Please remember that these are not predictions. We’re trying to have fun. These outlooks are meant to offer a reasonable ceiling and floor for each team. But don’t take it too seriously.

Let's turn now to the Indiana Hoosiers.

Best case

For just the second time in more than two decades, Indiana football fans will have to make some holiday travel plans to see the Hoosiers.

Year 5 of the Kevin Wilson era finally brings the long-awaited postseason breakthrough, thanks to an easier nonconference schedule and the revival of the passing game behind senior quarterback Nate Sudfeld. The Hoosiers return to their high-scoring ways right off the bat in September, scoring at least 40 points in each of their first four games, beating Southern Illinois, Florida International, Western Kentucky and Wake Forest. It's the program's first 4-0 start since 1990.

This isn't a fairy tale, however, so Indiana's momentum is then stalled by consecutive losses to Ohio State and at Penn State. But behind Jordan Howard's 222 rushing yards, Wilson's team bounces back to beat Rutgers before an actual sellout crowd on homecoming, moving to within one win of bowl eligibility. That elusive sixth win arrives on Nov. 7 at home against Iowa, as Sudfeld throws for 400 yards and a touchdown in the final seconds for a 42-41 shootout victory.

The Hoosiers get a little too happy celebrating the arrival of their first bowl bid since 2007, losing the next two games, to Michigan and on the road at Maryland. But they get back on track to blow out winless Purdue 38-0 in the season finale, clinching a winning season. Wilson and the Old Oaken Bucket are carried off the Ross-Ade Stadium; the party continues all the way to Kirkwood Avenue and an overflow party at Nick's English Hut.

Indiana goes to the Pinstripe Bowl in New York City, where it is paired against 6-6 Notre Dame. Tegray Scales intercepts a pass in the end zone on the game's final play, sealing a 40-39 win -- the program's first bowl victory since 1991. At Tom Crean's urging, the school hoists a giant banner at Memorial Stadium to signify one of the best seasons in 30 years. Basketball can wait for another few weeks.

Worst case

Will the bowl drought ever end? And who will be the coach to end it?

Sudfeld's return helps, but he and his young receivers have trouble establishing chemistry much as they did at the start of last season. Howard is no Tevin Coleman. And that defense ... well, not much has changed.

Even an easier schedule is no guarantee of success. Western Kentucky's Brandon Doughty passes for 550 yards and six touchdowns as the Hilltoppers pull off the mild upset at Memorial Stadium. Indiana also loses on a last-second field goal at Wake Forest for a disappointing 2-2 start.

Ohio State fills the stands with its own fans and scores 70 points on the Hoosiers in Week 4. Penn State's ferocious defense pitches a shutout in a game that's even uglier than last year's punt-fest. Indiana bounces back to nip Rutgers at home, but a slew of injuries makes the win a costly one. Wilson's team loses its next four, stumbling into the finale in West Lafayette. Purdue, which is enjoying a surprise season under Darrell Hazell, claims a three-touchdown victory and clinches bowl eligibility.

A 3-9 finish and a dwindling season-ticket base is too much for even the ultra-patient Fred Glass to ignore, and he decides to fire Wilson. What follows is a long, protracted coaching search, as few up-and-comers want to risk finding a career dead end in Bloomington. As the New Year approaches, the Hoosiers are still without a clear front-runner for their next head coach, though rumors circulate that Cam Cameron is interested in returning to campus.

Notre Dame wins the College Football Playoff. Purdue rises to No. 1 in the college basketball polls.