Curt Cignetti's Hoosiers are looking to change the narrative against Oregon

Though they had surprising success in year one including a playoff appearance, Curt Cignetti's Indiana Hoosiers will be looking to change the narrative against Oregon on Saturday in Eugene. There are still many who doubt how real they are when it comes to national contenders since they were obliterated in their two biggest games a year ago against both Ohio State and Notre Dame.

Despite the blowout win against Illinois and a solid road win in Iowa City, there are many who still don't believe in Indiana football and are questioning where the Hoosiers are ranked right now. Despite having a better resume than several teams ranked ahead of them, the Hoosiers are ranked 7th in the AP Poll.

A lot of that has to do with first the overall history of Indiana football as well as their soft out of conference schedule. That was the biggest argument against this team a year ago, but a win in Euguene against an Oregon team many consider a title contender the national respect they are yearning to get. Fernando Mendoza has turned into one of the better quarterbacks this season and if he is able to lead the Hoosiers to a win over the Ducks his Heisman stock would go through the roof.

This would be Indiana's best chance to impress the Playoff Committee as of right now the Penn State game has lost a lot of its luster after last Saturday. The best news for the Hoosiers is even if they do lose to the Ducks, looking at the rest of the schedule there is a good chance they will run the table at least on paper. No matter how people feel about Indiana football there would be no way a one loss Big Ten team would ever be lost out of the 12-team system. A win in Eugene though would give Curt Cignetti's team a very good chance of getting a coveted first round bye and really start to change the overall narrative of what this program is turning into.

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