From Big Ten Cellar to National Contender: Indiana’s Rise Under Curt Cignetti

By Trinity Barnette

I’ll be honest—I wasn’t watching Indiana football closely.

Not because I doubted what they were doing, but because they weren’t a team I naturally gravitated toward. As a current University of Alabama fan, my attention during the season usually leans toward the SEC and the usual national heavyweights. Indiana lived outside of that orbit—easy to acknowledge, easier to overlook.

But as the 2025 college football season unfolded, Indiana kept showing up.

Not in a fluky, early-season way. Not as a short-lived storyline. They were consistently winning, consistently composed, and quietly stacking results in a conference where nothing comes easy.

Then they beat Ohio State.

That was the moment I stopped scrolling past scores and started paying attention—because teams don’t beat Ohio State by accident. And they definitely don’t do it without structure, discipline, and belief.

Indiana didn’t just earn a win that night. They earned a second look.

Indiana’s Reality—Before Curt Cignetti

To understand why Indiana’s current success matters, you have to be honest about what the program was for most of its existence.

Indiana football has historically been one of the toughest jobs in college football—not because of lack of effort, but because of decades of losing that shaped expectations both inside and outside the program. At one point, Indiana held the record for the most losses in Division I/Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) history. They weren’t just losing—they were known for losing.

For years, Indiana was a perennial Big Ten cellar-dweller. Bowl appearances were rare. Winning seasons were rarer. Coaching tenures often ended the same way they began: with optimism, followed by frustration, followed by resignation or dismissal. The program cycled through leadership without ever establishing a lasting identity.

The numbers tell the story plainly. Before its recent resurgence, Indiana had only two Big Ten championships—1945 and 1967. Entire generations of fans passed without seeing Indiana matter in the national conversation. Blowout losses became part of the program’s reputation, reinforcing the idea that Indiana was a “get-right game” on Big Ten schedules rather than a threat.

That reputation stuck.

Indiana wasn’t just overlooked—it was dismissed. Often labeled one of the worst programs in major college football, the Hoosiers were rarely discussed without qualifiers or caveats. Success elsewhere in the conference only widened the gap, making Indiana’s struggles feel permanent rather than fixable.

Which is why what happened next matters so much.

Curt Cignetti Didn’t Rebuild Indiana—He Reset It

Curt Cignetti didn’t walk into Bloomington promising patience.

He walked in knowing exactly what Indiana football had been—and refusing to let that history dictate what it would become.

When Indiana hired Cignetti ahead of the 2024 season, this was still a program widely viewed as one of the worst in major college football. The expectations were low. The reputation was heavy. And the margin for error was thin. But Cignetti had already built winning programs everywhere he’d been, and he treated Indiana no differently.

The turnaround was immediate—and historic.

In his first two seasons, Indiana went from a long-struggling afterthought to a national powerhouse. The Hoosiers stacked consecutive double-digit win seasons, captured a Big Ten championship, and climbed all the way to a No. 1 national ranking. For a program that once held the record for most losses in FBS history, the speed of the transformation felt almost absurd.

This wasn’t magic. It was method.

Cignetti’s first move was a complete roster reset. He attacked the transfer portal aggressively, bringing in experienced players who fit his system instead of trying to salvage a culture that hadn’t worked. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke became the stabilizing force Indiana hadn’t had in years—calm, efficient, and capable of winning big games without needing chaos.

On the field, Indiana became balanced. Disciplined. Physical. They stopped playing like a team hoping to survive Saturdays and started playing like one that expected to control them. Offense and defense complemented each other. Mistakes dropped. Confidence rose.

But the biggest change wasn’t schematic—it was cultural.

Cignetti installed standards that didn’t bend for Indiana’s past. Accountability mattered. Buy-in wasn’t optional. Winning wasn’t treated like a breakthrough—it was treated like a baseline. That mindset shift alone separated Indiana from the version of itself that had existed for decades.

The results forced everyone to pay attention.

Indiana recorded its first 8–0, 9–0, and 10–0 starts in program history under Cignetti. They beat Ohio State—not as a fluke, but as a composed, prepared football team. They entered the College Football Playoff conversation not as a novelty, but as a legitimate contender.

And the administration responded accordingly.

Indiana rewarded Cignetti with multiple contract extensions, eventually committing to him as one of the highest-paid coaches in college football. That investment wasn’t just about wins—it was recognition that Indiana had finally found the right leader for a job most believed was impossible.

For decades, Indiana football was defined by what it couldn’t be.

Curt Cignetti changed that in two seasons.

Why Indiana’s Rise Actually Matters

Indiana’s transformation under Curt Cignetti isn’t just a feel-good story—it’s a blueprint.

For years, programs like Indiana were written off as structural losers. Wrong conference. Wrong resources. Wrong history. The assumption was that no amount of coaching could permanently change that reality. Cignetti proved otherwise.

What Indiana showed is that modern college football rewards clarity more than pedigree. With the transfer portal, NIL, and shorter patience cycles, programs no longer have to wait decades to reset their identity. They just need the right leadership—and the willingness to commit fully to it.

Indiana didn’t stumble into relevance. They built it deliberately.

They beat Ohio State because they were prepared. They won the Big Ten because they were disciplined. They reached the College Football Playoff because they stopped playing like a program grateful to be included and started acting like one that belonged.

And that’s the part that matters most.

Curt Cignetti didn’t just change Indiana’s record—he changed how Indiana sees itself. The Hoosiers are no longer a historical footnote or a punchline. They’re proof that the right coach, paired with institutional buy-in, can rewrite decades of narrative faster than anyone thought possible.

Indiana football spent most of its history being told what it could never be.

Curt Cignetti made sure that stopped being true.

The Moment That Sealed It: Indiana’s First Heisman

As if the transformation weren’t complete enough, Indiana’s rise reached its most undeniable milestone Saturday night.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the 2025 Heisman Trophy, becoming the first player in program history to capture college football’s most prestigious individual award.

Mendoza, a transfer from California in his first season at Indiana, led the Hoosiers to a 13–0 record, a Big Ten Championship, and the program’s first-ever No. 1 ranking. He was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and Quarterback of the Year, and he quarterbacked Indiana to a conference championship upset over Ohio State—the same moment that forced the college football world to finally pay attention.

Statistically, Mendoza was elite. He completed 226 of 316 passes for 2,980 yards, threw a national-best 33 touchdown passes, and added 240 rushing yards and six scores on the ground. In Heisman voting, he wasn’t just the winner—he was dominant, receiving 643 first-place votes and finishing 927 points ahead of runner-up Diego Pavia of Vanderbilt.

But what made the moment resonate went beyond numbers.

Mendoza arrived in Bloomington as a two-star recruit, playing for what was once considered the losingest program in Division I football. When he accepted the Heisman Trophy, he delivered an emotional speech honoring his mother, Elsa Mendoza—a reminder that Indiana’s transformation wasn’t just structural or schematic. It was human.

Indiana will now head to the College Football Playoff quarterfinal in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, led by a Heisman Trophy winner.

For a program long defined by what it never had, that alone says everything.