Let’s take a brief history lesson for a moment. Starting from 1997 to 2023, the Indiana Hoosiers’ football team averaged just 4.2 wins per season and had only three Big 10 wins in the past three seasons. It would not be an understatement to say that Indiana became a Big 10 doormat, with Bowl eligibility probably being the pinnacle of their success. But when Curt Cignetti arrived last year and challenged Michigan and Ohio State in his inaugural speech, there was a rebellion in the air.
“Purdue sucks…so does Michigan and Ohio State,” declared Cignetti at an Indiana basketball game. But that fiery and confident personality Curt Cignetti had brought had results loading in the pipeline. So, when the 2024 season came, it was an Indiana team no one was able to recognize. From beating Michigan 15-20 to humbling Matt Rhule’s Nebraska 7-56, there was no one stopping the Hoosiers as they scripted history by making it to the playoffs. Cignetti’s sentiment? It was in his signature style!!
“We don’t just beat top 25 teams, we beat the s–t out of them,” said Cignetti. So, from giving some t-shirt worthy quotes to taking Indiana to a historic playoff berth, it seems like Cignetti would finally move some basketball audiences to Memorial Stadium. But all of it, according to Cignetti, wasn’t as easy as it seems. It took a lot of hard work and initiative from him and the players, as he tells on the 4th August episode of ‘NBC Sports’.
“When you take over a place that hadn’t been successful, you’ve got to change the way people think, on the inside and the outside. I’ve got to make sure I don’t fall into the warm fuzzies and be afraid to rock a boat now and then. Because progress only happens when there’s some sort of conflict or stress. So, it’s not easy, and it takes resources, and you’ve got to be in the top third of the Big 10 in resources in terms of things that help determine program success,” said Cignetti.
Turning around Indiana was a Herculean challenge, with a fan base used to losing and attendance falling every year. Moreover, the 2023 season didn’t provide any optimism for the head coach either, as the Hoosiers finished with just 3 wins, and the QB spot was a revolving door. Now, to turn that around, Cignetti brought in key transfers, including Kurtis Rourke and Ty Son Lawton, and adopted a balanced offensive approach. The result? The offense averaged 5.4 yards per carry in the ground game, and Rourke provided a 50-to-16 touchdown-interception ratio, making the season a success. But there were some criticisms too.
Is the Indiana Hoosiers’ playoff controversy coming back again in 2025?
Despite making it to the playoffs, Indiana’s inclusion by the committee was met with heavy skepticism, with some favoring teams like Alabama over them due to the Hoosiers’ weak schedule. Their non-conference slate, where the Hoosiers played Charlotte, Western Illinois, and Florida International, was most criticized, and the regression of teams like Michigan and Washington didn’t help their cause. Moreover, this year, too, the same level of non-conference scheduling is coming for Indiana. However, Cut Cignetti has defended the team’s decision.
“Here’s the bottom line, okay, we picked up an extra home game, and we play nine conference games. The two best conferences in college football, any football guy that’s objective will tell you, are the Big Ten and the SEC, all right — 12 of the 16 SEC teams play three G5 or an FCS game. All right? So we figured we would just adopt SEC scheduling philosophy, you know,” said Cignetti.
In the 2025 season, Curt Cignetti’s Indiana will face Old Dominion, Kennesaw State, and Indiana State in their non-conference games. The schedules do again bring up the same criticisms about Indiana’s weak scheduling. Also, this year, they are avoiding Michigan and Ohio State altogether, making the concerns of Indiana getting a weak schedule even more intense. Now it remains to be seen how Indiana’s 2025 season will play out and what the playoff committee decides finally.
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