Curt Cignetti turning Indiana into the top College Football Playoff seed is an epic story

The Indiana Hoosiers shocked the world and remained undefeated with a miraculous 13-10 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday evening, getting a big missed field goal to go their way late in the fourth quarter.

The win gave Indiana its first Big Ten title since 1945 and likely positioned the Hoosiers at No. 1 in the final College Football Playoff rankings as they look to win the school’s first championship.

Indiana hadn’t beaten Ohio State in 35 years. That’s how shocking Saturday’s result was, with Urban Meyer calling it the greatest turnaround in the history of college football.

It wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows for the Hoosiers. In fact, they had made just five bowl games in over 30 years. But, the turnaround came instantly under head coach Curt Cignetti, who has absolutely changed the culture at Indiana.

Let’s revisit exactly how we got here, starting back all those 30 years ago.

The 30 years of struggles

Back in 1995, we were nearing the end of the Bill Mallory era, as the head coach went 5-17 in his final two years before the Hoosiers moved on to Cam Cameron, who had an 18-37 record over five years before being fired.

During that seven-year stretch, Indiana didn’t have one season of six wins or higher. That trend continued into the short-lived Gerry DiNardo and Terry Hoeppner eras, which totaled only four years.

Bill Lynch kicked off his era with a 7-6 record, leading Indiana to their first bowl game in 14 years back in 2007. But, Lynch couldn’t get another winning season after that and was fired after his fourth year.

In came Kevin Wilson, who had a disastrous 1-11 opening campaign. Wilson got five more seasons to fix things, but, just like his predecessors, was unable to record a winning season.

Finally, we get to the Tom Allen era. The head coach at Indiana for seven years, Allen was given a lot of leeway and even led Indiana to two winning seasons, sparking hope for optimism. But, he combined for just seven wins in his final three seasons and was fired after the 2023 season.

From football jokes to College Football Playoff contenders

And then, there was the truth: Curt Cignetti.

While there were many splash hires in the Big Ten over the last few years, Cignetti’s was one that was lauded, but not to the extent of other major coaching moves that haven’t fared as well.

He was inheriting a program that went 3-9 in 2023 without as many resources at a place that hadn’t generally seen success in the past. Cignetti looked to up the school’s investment and brought in 31 transfers, including several key starters from his team at James Madison.

And it instantly worked. Benefitting from an easier schedule, Indiana just flat-out dominated opponents last year, starting the season 10-0 before a loss to the then-ranked No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes. They ultimately made the Playoff, but fell in the first-round to Notre Dame.

But, the seeds were planted. Indiana had completely changed itself from the laughingstock of the Big Ten to a potential yearly contender. However, Cignetti and his staff knew they needed to keep the success sustainable, which meant attacking the transfer portal again to replace the departing veterans.

After 31 transfers in 2024, Indiana got 23 transfers in 2025, focusing on positions like the offensive line, quarterback, running back, and the secondary. At this point, Cignetti had increased the eyeballs and, therefore, investment in the program, and Indiana now had the resources to be competitive with NIL.

They went out and targeted Fernando Mendoza from Cal to be their quarterback, getting one of the top rising seniors in the country. And they filled out the rest of their depth, while maintaining top staffers on both sides of the ball.

The results were fantastic. Indiana started off the season as the No. 20 team in the country. But, after a 63-10 whooping over the No. 9 Illinois Fighting Illini, people started to take the Hoosiers seriously once again.

Then came a tough win over Iowa on the road. And an even tougher 30-20 road win over Oregon in Eugene. And suddenly, Indiana was right back to a familiar place: undefeated and a top team in the country, only this time, they were No. 3.

With six straight wins after Oregon, the Hoosiers finished the season undefeated at 12-0 with the No. 2 ranking behind only Ohio State. But, they had a chance to change that on Saturday, and boy, did they do that.

Behind another spectacular defensive performance and some clutch plays from Mendoza and Indiana’s offense, the Hoosiers somehow managed to pull off a 13-10 victory over Ohio State, capping their incredible turnaround as Big Ten Champions.

Just two years ago, Indiana was an afterthought with five bowl games in the past 25 years. Now, they’re a national contender with back-to-back playoff appearances and the No. 1 seed in the country.