The Indiana Hoosiers didn’t just beat Illinois on Saturday night. They dismantled them.
And now, as Sports Illustrated noted, college football analyst Greg McElroy believes the Hoosiers deserve to be mentioned in the sport’s biggest conversation:
“Indiana might be a national championship contender. Just let that soak in for a moment,” McElroy said.
For a program that has usually been seen as an afterthought in the Big Ten, McElroy’s words were striking.
“Indiana is not a historical blue blood, not a team naturally in this conversation on an annual basis. I get all that. Even for me, it’s hard to come to this conclusion. I’ve seen Indiana lose a lot of games in my time as an analyst and as a fan of college football. But I’m telling you, this group feels different. They just dominated an Illinois team that I have some respect for.”
Indiana’s 63-10 win over Illinois on Saturday was the largest point differential in school history against a ranked opponent, setting a Big Ten record for most points scored against a top-10 opponent in the AP poll era.
Cal transfer Fernando Mendoza has solidified himself as one of the Heisman Trophy favorites and one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Against Illinois, he completed 21 of his 23 passes for 267 yards and five touchdowns, sending notice to the entire college football world that he has arrived.
With a 4-0 start, the Hoosiers now sit as the No. 11 ranked team in the country.
The Rise of the Hoosiers Under Cignetti
From 2021-2023, the Indiana Hoosiers were 9-27 and widely considered one of the worst power 5 conference teams in the entire country.
Everything shifted once Indiana made its home-run hire, bringing in Curt Cignetti.
In Cignetti’s first season, he led the Hoosiers to an 11-2 record which included a College Football Playoff appearance. Indiana’s only two losses last season came against the national champion Ohio State Buckeyes and runner-up Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
More importantly, Cignetti transformed the culture. At a school that has always been defined by their basketball tradition, he turned Indiana into a legitimate football destination in just one season.
He instilled a belief that the Hoosiers could line up against anyone in the country without backing down, while also reigniting the passion and excitement of a fan base that had largely tuned out of their football team.
National Championship Aspirations Lie Ahead
Cignetti has built on last season’s momentum and has kept the excitement booming in Bloomington with a 4-0 start.
McElroy continued to praise Cignetti for another amazing start to the season for the Hoosiers:
“The pressure was absolutely relentless, and at times they didn’t even blitz. They weren’t overloading protection, but it felt like they had extra players on the field,” he explained. “Linebackers were always in the right place, always closing space. As a quarterback, even when you think you’ve escaped pressure and found a wide-open man, in a moment’s notice there’s a defender right there. They are so well-coached defensively.”
Over the next three weeks, the Hoosiers will face daunting road trips to Iowa and No. 6 Oregon, followed by a clash at Penn State in Happy Valley on November 8th.
With such a challenging schedule ahead, Indiana’s ability to replicate its early-season success in hostile environments will reveal just how high this team’s ceiling truly is.
For now, the Indiana Hoosiers have firmly planted themselves as a rising power and a true contender in the ever-shifting landscape of college football.