Indiana announced its college football arrival a year ago, but even then, it felt hard to believe the losingest program in FBS history would have much staying power. Critics ripped their schedule, called them a fluke, debated whether they even deserved to make the College Football Playoff and dismissed them after an opening-round loss to Notre Dame.
Cute story, those Hoosiers. But see! They should leave the real football to the real blue bloods.
Cue the Curt Cignetti staredown.
Google him again, just for reference. The man simply does not lose.
Indiana might have been pooh-poohed as a one-year wonder, opening 2025 ranked No. 20 and picked to finish sixth in the Big Ten preseason media poll.
Fueled by the perceived disrespect, desperate to prove it would not become a bottom dweller again, Indiana produced the football version of "Hoosiers," completing one of the most improbable turnarounds in sports history -- winning its first national championship while becoming the first major college team since Yale in 1894 to go 16-0.
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