This is an opinion column.
For the first time in recorded human history, fans of Indiana University are puffing their chests out, strutting around the yard like the alpha dogs of college football and firing off snarky emails to the mailbag.
Gotta admit, I don’t mind it.
But is Indiana here to stay, or are the Hoosiers just a one-hit wonder thanks to a roster of 24- and 25-year-olds? That all depends on coach Curt Cignetti, who bubbled up from obscurity at the primordial dawn of the NIL era to win the most unlikely national championship in the history of the sport.
Indiana circa 2025 was a great story, but year-after-year success is a completely different thing. Something Cignetti said in the aftermath of his championship got me thinking. Does Cig have his eyes on Alabama? We’ll get to that, but first, to the mailbag …
The Real Mike Brady writes …
Why would Cignetti leave Indiana for Alabama and have to live in Nick Saban’s shadow? Cignetti also has ZERO pressure at Indiana … he’s a lifelong legend in the entire state now.
Cignetti also has more money than any SEC school to go out and get great players. Indiana is a cash-rich program, and they’re willing to spend. Cignetti has shown all the other programs that there is another way to get it done. He’s not leaving for Alabama.
Alabama’s best days are behind them. Much like Miami Hurricanes football exploded on the scene in 1983. As long as Cignetti is at Indiana, they’ll be back in the CFP again and again. You can’t say the same for Alabama.
Brad writes …
Cignetti isn’t going anywhere. The money will start pouring into the Hoosiers’ coffers led by Mark Cuban, who contributed initially $60 million. IU football will continue to get better and Cignetti will continue to be a part of it. The best Alabama might do is Dabo Swinney!
Jon from Cleveland writes …
After your column on Monday about Carson Beck, which was accurate, and your column on Wednesday about Alabama breaking the NCAA, I have a question: Why are these sports teams associated with universities?
As you know, many people that never attended college are not only fans of, but find their identity in Alabama and Auburn football (like the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns). This sense of identity associated with Alabama, Auburn, Ohio State, etc., is a marketing drug more powerful than nicotine, resulting in athletic programs with billion dollar valuations and 100,000 seat stadiums. However, if you dissociate the football team from the university, you no longer have the famous first question … are you Alabama or Auburn? Rather you have the Birmingham Stallions, with an average attendance of 10,000 and a valuation of around $50M. What fun is that?!
I don’t know what the answer is, but giving people a sense of pride and rivalries in their university, region or really anything is extremely valuable. So, I am confident that someone with a brain that really likes money will find a way to preserve our identities and their income streams.
ANSWER: Something tells me that Indiana isn’t suffering from an identity crisis this week.
Beer-sipping Cignetti and Indiana are the toasts of the sports world. People bemoan the current state of college football, but really it has never been better. If Indiana can be king for a day, then anyone can wear the crown.
I love them to death, but these mouthy Indiana fans just learned about college football. They don’t know what it takes to sustain success. This is the school, after all, that fired Bobby Knight.
Alabama isn’t going anywhere. Indiana is the big story today. Alabama is college football, and there is no way that the movers and shakers in the state will be allowing the Tide’s football team to fall behind the Big Ten.
In fact, I’m willing to bet a cold beer that Alabama’s powerbrokers are already working on a plan to bring Cignetti back to Tuscaloosa.
Something Cignetti said after the national championship got Alabama’s attention. Cignetti name dropped Paul Bryant in the news conference following Indiana’s 27-21 victory against Miami. From an early age, Cignetti said, he always “wanted to be like a Bear Bryant kind of coach.”
To quote Lloyd Christmas, so you’re telling me there’s a chance?
For the right kind of ears, Cignetti’s reference to Bryant was all they needed to hear.
Know the best way to be a Bryant kind of coach? It’s win national championships at Alabama.
Why would Cignetti leave Indiana for Alabama? The same reason that Nick Saban left the Miami Dolphins for Alabama. Because Alabama is where the best coaches have their statues, and Cignetti knows his college history football.
Cignetti spent his final years as an assistant coach in Tuscaloosa. He understands the culture better than anyone. Alabama is more than Saban, and winning national championships are all that matters. If current Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer loses four games next season, then he’s done.
I don’t know if Cignetti would leave Indiana after his championship with the Hoosiers. I do know for a certainty, however, that Alabama is always thinking about how to stay on top.
How did Indiana do it? It wasn’t Cignetti alone.
“People can cling to an old way of thinking, categorizing teams as this or that or conferences as this or that, or they can adjust to the new world, the shift of the power balance in the way college football is today,” Cignetti said. “I think to look back at what happened to Indiana previous to us coming, 10, 20, 50 years ago, strictly lacked a commitment from the top.
“That’s it, plain and simple. Nothing else. And we have a commitment, OK.
Sounds like the Alabama way to me.
It’s impossible to predict how college football will change from one year to the next. Alabama will be evolving with it, though. That’s guaranteed.
Cignetti is 65 years old, but he doesn’t have to coach in Tuscaloosa long to get a statue next to Bryant and Saban.
MAILBAG SOUND OFF
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