Indiana was the story of the 2024 college football regular season when the Hoosiers, led by then-first year head coach Curt Cignetti, went a stunning 11-1 and made it into the very first 12-team College
Football Playoff field, ultimately falling in the first round.
At the time, nationally, some treated the Hoosiers as something of a Cinderella story. A surprise team that comes along and makes waves before bowing out and making room for the next upstart program to reach into the sport’s upper echelon. Others projected Indiana, which retained enough of its core to be productive in 2025, could make a similar push the next season.
Now, entering the final week of October, Indiana is once again undefeated at 8-0, only this time sitting at No. 2 nationally with a win over then-No. 3 Oregon on the road at Autzen Stadium under its belt. This group got the big win last year’s lacked.
With this in mind, should Indiana be seen as a perennial playoff contender moving forward? Hoosier fans weighed in through a survey we conducted last week:
Just 53% of fans think the Hoosiers should be in playoff contention every season, a thoroughly understandable figure. It’ll be interesting to see what Indiana looks like in the coming years as it shifts into the next stage of the Curt Cignetti era.
