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Indiana travels on the road for the first time this season, heading over to face a Cincinnati Bearcats squad fresh off of a College Football Playoff appearance last season.

Tom Allen leads an undefeated, 3-0, Indiana team fresh off of an overtime win over Western Kentucky last week. It also has close wins over Idaho and Illinois.

Cincinnati is 2-1, with its lone loss coming on the road to No. 19 Arkansas to start the season.

The Hoosiers look to avenge a loss the Bearcats gave Indiana in Memorial Stadium last season.

Kick is set for 3:30 pm ET on Saturday.

Here are TheHoosier.com staff picks for the game:

Looking at this game, I see an Indiana team with a much better offense than they had last year to go up against a Cincinnati team that returns 85% of its college football playoffs squad from a year ago. The Hoosiers defense, while looking solid, getting turnovers, has definitely shown holes with poor tackling at critical times. Las Vegas has Indiana as a 17 point dog. I'm not sure that I see Indiana losing by that much, but it's going to be a very challenging game in the Bearcats' sand box that is Nippert Stadium where they have a 30 game home winning streak. Unfortunately, I think that reaches 31.

Prediction: Cincinnati 37, Indiana 23

While Indiana has trailed for the majority of its season so far, a 3-0 record isn't anything to just throw away. The Hoosiers have found ways to win games when they need to -- albeit not always pretty. Going on the road to Cincinnati isn't easy but the Bearcats also don't have the same roster it had last year. A new quarterback, running back and some new wideouts step into larger roles than a year ago. If Indiana can contain the big play threat and keep the explosive plays to a minimum, it could go a long way in getting a potential win. Indiana needs to be able to run the ball on offense in order to open up some play action ability. Bearcats' head coach Luke Fickell discussed the challenges that IU's wide receivers will give his secondary. I think this goes down to the wire and Indiana makes a few plays late -- playing its best game yet.

Prediction: Indiana 27, Cincinnati 23

I think the 16-17.5 spread is pretty long in favor of the Bearcats. In my opinion, Indiana covers that in an offensive shootout.

Additionally, the atmosphere at Nippert Stadium is going to be one that the Hoosiers haven't seen since Week 5 of last season when they visited Penn State. Cincinnati fans have been waiting for this game for a long time; it's not often a power five team comes to Cincinnati, let alone one that stands 3-0 to start the season.

Prediction: Cincinnati 37 Indiana 27

Cincinnati may not be the same team that made an inaugural trip to the College Football Playoff last season, but they are still quite a force to be reckoned with. Indiana's first road game of the season may be in the most hostile environment they enter outside of Columbus all year. Although I think Indiana will be up for the challenge and put up a tougher fight than they're expected to, (a 17-point spread is just a bit much for my liking), I just don't foresee a scenario where Indiana comes out the victor on Saturday. I'm open to having my mind changed, though.

Prediction: Cincinnati 35, Indiana 20

Indiana has started their year 3-0. If you looked at that number on paper, you would think that's pretty good. However, all three wins haven't been the best quality football, especially considering who they were playing. This is the first road game of the year for the Hoosiers and it will definitely be a test as Nippert Stadium is already sold out. The Bearcats aren't the same team as the team from last year, but they have played well. They gave Arkansas a fight who is one of the best teams in the SEC and have put up a combined 101 points in the past two weeks. If Indiana gets the win, they have to establish the run game, but that will be pretty hard considering that's been the strong suit of the Cincinnati defense. As a whole, the Cincinnati defense is second in the American Conference. To put it simply, I think the Bearcats are the more complete and experienced team. I just think Cincinnati will play better quality football on Saturday.

Prediction: Cincinnati 37, Indiana 24

Without question, this is Indiana's toughest test so far this year. While Cincinnati is not the beast that they were last season, they are still a tough team to overcome with a home winning streak of 28 straight games to back that up. If Indiana is going to want to shock the nation and come out with a road win to extend to 4-0 on the season, they are going to have to play nearly perfect in every facet of the game. The running game is going to have to continue to trend upwards, mistakes are going to have to be limited on offense, the defense is going to have to make plays and get stops, and much more in order for Indiana to gain their first road win of the year. While I think this will be a closer game than many don't expect it will be, with the Hooisers barely getting by with a win in their first three games, it is hard for me to think that Indiana can escape Nippert Stadium with a win here.

Prediction: Cincinnati 37, Indiana 27

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