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It is year two for Indiana football under Curt Cignetti. The first year was a massive success. It was the first time Indiana had ever won 11 games in a season, and they would qualify for the College Football Playoff. The Hooisers would fall to Notre Dame in the first round of the playoffs. Indiana opens 2025 ranked 20th in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll and hopes to climb in the rankings before the season ends.
Cignetti came to Indiana, bringing much of his successful James Madison staff with him. Six assistant coaches would join the staff from JMU. The team would also add 12 players from that JMU roster as transfers. There was speculation about whether the plan would work out. No player on the roster earned Big Ten preseason honors, while the team was selected 17th out of 18 teams in the Big Ten, only ahead of Purdue.
The Hoosiers would open up the season 10-0, rising to fifth in the rankings, and defeating teams such as Nebraska, Washington, and Michigan in the process. They would fall to Ohio State on the road for their first loss of the year, before beating Purdue in the last game of the year. Expectations are higher this year, but still not massive. Current odds at the time of writing have them at +4000 to win the Big Ten, ninth in the conference. Regardless of expectations, this team will excel.
Curt Cignetti is a winner
Cignetti's winning at Indiana has already earned him a contract extension, and he has been a winner at every stop. Before becoming a head coach, he went to four bowl games at NC State as an assistant, coaching Russell Wilson. He would also be part of the Alabama staff that won a national title.
The former West Virginia quarterback would get his first head coaching job at IUP in 2011. He took over a team that was 11-11 the prior two years with just four conference wins. In his first season, he guided the Crimson Hawks to seven wins, with five in conference play. In his six years at IUP, he would win one conference title, play for a second, and go to the playoffs three times.
He would then move on to Elon, a team that had six straight losing seasons. In two years, Cignetti was 14-9 at the school, making the playoffs both years. That led to his move to James Madison. In his first three seasons, JMU won the CAA three times, made it to the playoff semi-finals three times, and the championship game once. Further, they would finish the season ranked in the top three of the FCS poll each year.
He then led the team in their transition to the FBS level, winning 19 games in two years before heading to Indiana. Overall, Cignetti has won four division titles, been to the playoffs nine total times at different levels, and won 130 games. He is a winner, and there is no reason to expect that will change.
Fernando Mendoza comes in at quarterback
Indiana brought in a transfer quarterback for the 2024 season, landing Kurtis Rourke from Ohio. He would go on to pass for 2,827 yards with 27 touchdowns. Rourke did this all while playing on a torn ACL. Indiana brings in another transfer quarterback, this time coming from a power conference team. Fernando Mendoza comes in as a transfer from Cal.
In his two years as a Golden Bear, he played in 20 games, starting 19 of them. He passed for 4,712 yards with 30 touchdowns, while also finding the endzone four times on the ground. Further, he showed better accuracy in 2024. In 2023, he threw ten interceptions, but cut that to just four picks in 2024.
Expectations are high for the transfer quarterback, as Todd McShay has him projected as a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Indiana won big in 2024 with a transfer quarterback, and Mendoza has the skill set to do it again in 2025.
The schedule is manageable
Making the College Football Playoff would assure that Indiana finishes ranked higher than 20th. In the first year of the 12-team format, all 12 teams would finish in the top 14 of the final poll. Further, in the four-team format, teams that made the playoffs finished in the top six. In the past ten years, a spot in the top 20 has required at least nine wins, and being one of the top nine-win teams in the nation. Ten wins from a power conference have all but assured a top 20 ranking.
If ten is the marker Indiana needs to get to to ensure moving up in the poll, they have the schedule to do just that. They start off with an easy non-conference schedule, with games against Old Dominion, Kennesaw State, and Indiana State. They then play against Illinois, which is expected to be solid, but the game is at home and winnable.
The next two games are difficult, with games against Iowa and Oregon, both on the road. Still, they finish with many of the bottom teams in the Big Ten, minus Penn State. Indiana avoids Oregon, Ohio State, Michigan, and USC. Of the eight teams favored higher in odds to win the Big Ten than Indiana, the team faces just three of them. The win total is currently set at 8.5 wins, so jumping making it to ten wins is not out of the question. Indiana has a great roster and an amazing coach, which will see them as a top 20 team at the end of the year.
![Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway (2) throws the ball while Florida Gators assistant coach for quarterbacks Ryan O'Hara looks on during fall football practice at Sanders Indoor Practice Fields at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, August 7, 2025. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]](https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Gators-QB-DJ-Lagway-1.jpg)
