The first Much Too Early College Football Top 25 preseason poll was released approximately 30 seconds after Curt Cignetti was handed the Championship Trophy, and then finished his acceptance speech, noting that the Big Ten, except for Purdue, of course, doesn’t suck. Patience is a virtue, but is rarely observed in today’s wired, peripatetic world. And the folks casting for ...

Is the Big-10 Hosed, (Hoosiered) or Not?

Thanks, Charles, for the terrific editing job.

Cig is losing many of the players he brought with him from JMU. Will this make a difference in 2026?

One prediction of which I am certain, Indiana vs. Ohio State and Indiana at Michigan will draw a huge number of eyeballs. For viewer numbers compared to the SEC, I hope at least one of these games will kick off at 7:30 PM Eastern.

And many folks will be watching the battle of the Os, Oregon at Ohio State.

Thanks for this article Jon. The past two years have been a Cinderella story for Indiana and now with the #1 Portal class, it looks like they are not going away soon. Cignetti delivers and has a great eye for talent. We all know about Mark Cuban helping out but I also read an article that said John Cougar Mellancamp was a big contributor. Did not attend Indiana but lived close by.

2 hours ago, Jon Joseph said:

Cig is losing many of the players he brought with him from JMU. Will this make a difference in 2026?

I think it will. He had a ton of 4th, 5th, 6th year veterans that have been in his program (both JMU and Indiana) for years. That much experience in the same offensive/defensive schemes means they knew their roles inside and out, allowing them to execute their responsibilities and easily adjust within their respective boundaries when necessary (and without a lot of prompting).

Cig will certainly transfer in additional experienced help through the portal and that does make an impact. But a 5th year player with experience in other programs isn't as ideal as a 5th year guy that's been in his program from the start.

This Indiana season has a lot in common with the Ducks 2010 season under Chip Kelly. The Ducks in 2009 were good, but not good enough. 2010 brought the Ducks undefeated to the championship, but they could not close it out vs Auburn.

This championship, Indiana got the game winning INT to close the deal. Compare that to the Ducks not being able to stop Dyer at the end of the game. What if 'Dyer was DOWN' and on the next play, the Ducks forced a fumble for a big return and the Ducks sealed the game?

Both had a RED HOT new head coach who had a little different formula on how to win. I compare those Indiana back shoulder catches that were timed to perfection to Chip's zone read that nobody could stop.

But college football caught up with Chip and then the Ducks HAD to grow in recruiting to keep up with the success. I suspect the same will happen for Cig. Indiana had a roster full of over achievers that got so much better than they were in high school.

In fact, I see a similar season in 2026 for Indiana that Penn St had this year. Lose a few star players and it is not the same team anymore. Ohio St is losing some players as well. Michigan lost a few after their natty. Same with Georgia after their second championship. But I don't think Indiana will implode like Penn St did.

Quite a few teams have had 'Cinderella' seasons: TCU, Hawaii, Boise St, and most recently Texas Tech. But Indiana was the only one to carry the juice all the way to the end. You could count SMU in the early 80s, but they cheated more than everybody else at the time AND they had players who were super stars in high school.

If Cig can keep it going in 2026 and beyond, then there really is some kind of magic. But I look at this last season like drawing an inside strait in Las Vegas and cleaning out the casino - a one time thing with a lot of luck.

I predict an (8-4) or at best (9-3) season for Indiana and missing the playoffs.

But even so, Indiana should get all the credit in the world for being the one (and only?) team to go from the bottom to the top is such a short time frame with players who were not rated super highly in high school.

Pretty soon, 'Google Me' is going to be like Prime Time's 'Do you Believe?'. I can't wait until the Ducks play them again.

Great article Jon, and as long as 'Cig is there--they will be tough.

The price of Poker in the B1G has elevated; We now have quite a bunch of talented teams in the conference between the usual heavyweights in Ohio State and Michigan, (especially now with Whittingham) with newbies Indiana and Oregon, and can't forget Penn State as I believe they will be the biggest surprise in 2026. (Great new coach)

But we have a cluster of good nine win teams who will muck things up for conference powers in Illinois, Washington, USC, Iowa, etc. Half of the conference is nine wins or better? Step aside SEC?

Good gosh we have some blockbuster games on our schedules now!

One of the storylines, I believe was on WSJ, was that Cig's team didn't practice too hard. That made sense considering the experience of his players this year. They really just need to be taugh to play smart and mistake-free. Will that work with younger players?

CFB is exciting because the team changes so much from year to year, unlike the NFL. If Cig can win another Natty, or even make it to Semi-Final, this year, that will be quite a legend by itself.

Let's change the focus back to OBD, Coach Lanning!