One of the surprise stories in college football last season was Indiana football under new head coach Curt Cignetti. In his first year in Bloomington after coming over from James Madison, Cignetti led the Hoosiers to an incredible regular season and a berth in the College Football Playoff.

Now, Indiana has to deal with the expectations of making the CFP after doing it last year. It won't be easy, as the Hoosiers have to navigate a difficult Big Ten schedule, but they are taking a bit of a load off in the non-conference.

Part of that comes because Indiana cancelled a home-and-home series against Virginia in order to play against an FCS team. When asked about it, Cignetti took a dig at the SEC's scheduling via Nick Schultz of On3 Sports.

“That was a scheduling philosophy that began before I was hired. But I did sign off on it upon being hired, before our first season,” Cignetti said. “Look, here’s the bottom line. We picked up an extra home game and we play nine conference games. The two best conferences in college football – any football guy that’s objective will tell you – the Big Ten and the SEC. Twelve of the 16 SEC teams play three G5 or an FCS game. Twelve of those teams play 36 games – 29 G5 games and seven FCS games, and one less conference game.

“So we figured we’d just adopt SEC scheduling philosophy. Some people don’t like it. I’m more focused in on those nine conference games.”

Overall, the non-conference slate for Indiana is very light this season. It will play Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State in addition to its nine conference games, which will be very challenging. After getting the easier side of the Big Ten Schedule last season, Cignetti and company have to play road games against Oregon and Penn State this fall.

Despite that, the Hoosiers will still have playoff expectations this season. The defense should be excellent once again and Cal transfer Fernando Mendoza is coming in to replace Kurtis Rourke at quarterback. With Cignetti manning the sidelines, expectations will be very high in Bloomington this fall.

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