Ever since his arrival at Indiana, Curt Cignetti has become one of the biggest villains in College Football. Whether it was because of the Cinderella run his team went on, telling everyone to Google him, or the attitude with which he carries himself, it's hard for opposing fanbases to love Cignetti as he truly goes against everyone.
Cignetti's latest battle has come against the SEC and how everyone schedules games. As the SEC won't move to a 9-game league schedule, the Hoosiers canceled a game against Virginia, which Cignetti said was taking the SEC approach to scheduling games.
On Monday, Indiana added a pair of home games facing the Howard Bison in 2026 and Miami of Ohio in 2028. When you look at the games Indiana added and the Non-Conference schedule as a whole there's a clear pattern.
Indiana adds home games w/Howard in 2026 & Miami (Ohio) in 2028, @FBSchedules reports
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 18, 2025
IU's non-league schedules
2025: ODU, Kennesaw St, Indiana St
2026: Howard, Colorado St, WKU
2027: Kennesaw St, Indiana St, UMass
2028: Austin Peay, Miami (Oh), E. Michigan
2029: Ball State, E.…
The level at which Indiana is scheduling Non-Conference games that are clearly games the Hoosiers can't lose and shouldn't even get pushed in is absurd. The Hoosiers won't face an Power 4 opponent in Non-Conference play until at least 2030. Indiana and Curt Cignetti have scheduled 5 FCS Opponents and 10 Non-AQ Opponents which is truly absurd.
What fans truly want to see are the best games possible every weekend, and what Curt Cignetti and his program are doing to their fanbase is a disservice. Indiana fans would like to see their program face one of the powers in the SEC that Cignetti continues to fight with or another Power 4 opponent but, the Hoosiers won't budge.
By scheduling these cupcake opponents, the Hoosiers are telling everyone else not to pay attention to their program until league play begins. Rather than using the Non-Conference slate to elevate his program's brand, Cignetti and his staff are using it as a way to pick up easy victories which is a fine decision but, it's not in the interest of the fans.
The only way in which Indiana fans start to get meaningful Non-Conference games is if the attendance at these cupcake games drops, forcing the program to look for an easier way to make money. Whether or not the SEC moves to a 9-game league schedule could change this approach but, at this point it appears that Cignetti will not budge.
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