CHICAGO — Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti offered plenty of flowers to the rest of the conference at Big Ten Media Days on Thursday.
He reserved some of his highest praise for Ohio State.
“They’re a goliath,” Cignetti said. “There’s some goliaths in the Big Ten that have been goliaths for a long time.”
Cignetti later expanded on his answer to include the likes of Michigan, USC and Penn State in that same category, while opening the door for a natural follow-up question: Is Indiana on the verge of joining those ranks?
“We were the national champs of 2025 and 27-2 the last two years,” Cignetti said. “Longest home win streak in college football. Longest win streak in college football. I don’t know. You guys write those stories.”
Last season, IU beat Ohio State for the first time since 1988, won its first game against Penn State in State College and ended a 46-game losing streak against top-5 opponents. At the podium, Cignetti made sure to mention that his team closed out the season with a total of six wins over top-10 opponents.
The Hoosiers also shed the label of being the losingest program in college football history during their perfect season.
Those notable wins quieted many skeptics — plenty of Big Ten coaches talked about IU as being a frontrunner in the conference in Chicago — but Cignetti is keeping his eyes forward. He knows the only way to fully turn the page on IU’s past is to keep winning games.
“When you start preparing, the goal is to be successful that week, you can earn it real fast,” Cignetti said. “Like we did in year one when we started out 10-0 then we took the necessary steps in year two where we couldn’t take year one. Those kinds of labels you guys put on programs, but we’re off to a fairly good start.”
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: After praising Ohio State, Curt Cignetti says Indiana’s 27–2 run speaks for itself
Reporting by Michael Niziolek, The Herald-Times / Indianapolis Star
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By Michael Niziolek, The Herald-Times | USA TODAY Network
