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Indiana went from a team trying to prove itself to a team being asked to prove it can stay on top. That shift is behind the new challenge facing head coach Curt Cignetti. According to Barstool analyst Brandon Walker, the defending national champions should change the way they schedule their non-conference games.
“Curt Cignetti loves to be boisterous… and he loves to say ‘Google me I win,’ but then when it comes time to act like they’re the big dog in college football, they run from competition,” Walker said on October 7 in a podcast on Barstool Sports.
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The issue centers on who Indiana plays before the Big Ten season starts. The Hoosiers will not face a Power Four non-conference opponent over the next five years, and Walker sees the same pattern as far out as schedules go. This season’s non-conference slate was Howard, North Texas, and Western Kentucky.
“They are the defending national champs. They’ve won 21 games in a row. They have put themselves at the top of college football,” Walker continued. “I feel if you’re going to do that, you should act like it… You shouldn’t run away like cowards from the Power Four teams of the world.”
Indiana’s swagger is being tested like never before. Subscribe to stay on top of the Hoosiers’ biggest challenge yet and Cignetti’s response.
Walker pointed to games elsewhere as a contrast and cited Texas playing Ohio State and Michigan playing Oklahoma, noting that neither Michigan nor Oklahoma is strong this year, but they are still facing each other. He also said the SEC now plays nine conference games and has a mandate to play 10 Power Four games a year.
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Back in 2023, during the introductory press conference as Indiana’s head coach, Cignetti famously set the tone for himself and said, “It’s pretty simple. I win. Google me,” and the results did back it up.
Indiana went 11-2 in 2024, then 16-0 in 2025, and beat Miami for its first national championship. That is 27-2 over two seasons, with a Big Ten title and a national…
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Publish date : 2026-10-08 15:00:00
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