INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — When coach Curt Cignetti first glanced at Indiana’s 2024 schedule, he projected a 10-win season — even before taking job.
Turns out, Cignetti one-upped himself.
In a historic first year with the Hoosiers, Cignetti changed everything from the faces inside the locker room to the perceptions of the FBS’ losingest program, putting the Hoosiers on the cusp of something that once seemed unthinkable — a playoff berth.
As championship week begins, Indiana is relegated to sitting, waiting and hoping the selection committee agrees that the Hoosiers have earned their playoff stripes.
“We certainly made a statement again,” Cignetti said after Saturday’s 66-0 blowout over rival Purdue for a school record 11th win. “I can’t say enough about what this team has done between the white lines, but they are not satisfied. They are not done yet. They want more. They are going to get more.”
Cignetti made his expectations clear even before leaving the field Saturday, telling television viewers he “absolutely” believes No. 9 Indiana (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten, No. 10 CFP) deserves a spot in the first 12-team playoff.
The Hoosiers will have a much clearer assessment late Tuesday when the committee’s second-to-last rankings are revealed. Another weekend of surprising losses could help their case and If that happens again next weekend, Indiana could host a first-round home game.
While the doubters contend Indiana played a soft schedule and lost 38-15 at then-No. 2 Ohio State in its only game against a ranked foe, the rest of this season’s resume is impressive.
The Hoosiers finished tied for second in league play, behind No. 1 Oregon. They were one of the FBS’ last three unbeaten teams, 10 wins came by at least 14 points and Indiana logged the largest victory in school history, 77-3 over Western Illinois, and two of the school’s three most lopsided Big Ten wins (Purdue and 56-7 over Nebraska).
Indiana also broke single season program records for wins, conference wins and total TDs (69) while tying school records for 30-point victory margins (five) and TD runs (37).
It’s a far cry from the roster and low expectations Cignetti inherited last December. He quickly changed his team’s mentality by bringing in 54 new players, 30 through the transfer portal, and almost an entirely new staff. It’s a blueprint that worked even with NIL money and the transfer portal dominating the college landscape.
“Early on in spring ball, I knew we had a special team,” starting center Mike Katic said. “But it wasn’t until we went to the Rose Bowl and took care of business at UCLA when I realized we have a really, really special team.”
Katic was one of the holdovers who watched Indiana’s trajectory sink during coach Tom Allen’s final three seasons — nine total wins and a 3-24 mark against Big Ten teams.
That’s why Indiana, even with its presumably manageable schedule, was the preseason pick to finish 17th in the expanded 18-team Big Ten. Cignetti took the stage at the league’s media day and said he’d played for league titles the two other times his team was picked to finish second-to-last.
Some wrote off Cignetti’s brash words as hyperbole. But he knew the Hoosiers had a built-in advantage.
With 13 experienced players and six assistant coaches, including the offensive and defensive coordinators, following him from the James Madison team that produced the most successful two-year transition from FCS to FBS ever, they had a cohesiveness other schools were still searching for in the world of NIL money and the transfer portal.
“We have confidence in each other, knowing the guy next to you will do his job as long as you do yours,” said receiver Ke’Shawn Williams, a transfer from Wake Forest. “We are an experienced group. We’ve got a lot of older guys in the room. All of us on offense who have played a lot of games, a lot of big moment games, we know what we’re capable of.”
Indiana didn’t trail in a game until Nov. 2, when Michigan State scored the first 10 points. The Hoosiers responded with 47 unanswered points to win the Old Brass Spittoon.
They also trailed the next week, for 3 minutes, 46 seconds, before beating defending national champion Michigan 20-15 — the same Michigan team that just knocked Ohio State out of the conference championship game. It was Indiana’s second win over the Wolverines since 1987.
And now after winning one more game than Cignetti projected, he has the Hoosiers preparing for whatever comes next.
“My wife will tell you the night I accepted the job, we were laying in bed, and I said, ‘Look at this schedule, there’s 10 wins on this schedule,’“ Cignetti said. ”(Athletic director) Scott (Dolson) called 10 minutes later and told me I was the next head coach at Indiana. I said ‘OK” and he said, ’We’re going to shock the world.'”
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