Welcome to the second edition of what will almost certainly become an annual column here and elsewhere.
The college football season is drawing ever closer and you know what that means. That’s right, tailgating setups are being planned, various SEC programs are plotting on ending their title drought, Curt Cignetti is in the film room and there’s a new batch of teams being labeled “the next Indiana.”
That’s right. If the Cignetti impressions at media days weren’t enough, we’re doing the “next Indiana”
thing again, it seems. The last time that label was applied widely was on the 2025 Illinois Fighting Illini, a label that stuck until Cignetti himself provided some 63 reasons why it didn’t quite make sense.
This time around the “next Indiana” label has been applied to a few different teams. FootballScoop, acknowledging the above point in making its argument, named Wake Forest, Oklahoma State, Penn State, UCLA, Washington, LSU and, well, Indiana.
There’s distinct arguments in the piece for each and, as previously stated, acknowledgement of the futility of that “this year’s Indiana” label. Wake Forest is listed for being just below Indiana in all-time winning percentage, Oklahoma State is listed for importing much of Eric Morris’ North Texas team as Cignetti had with JMU, Penn State is listed for similar reasons, UCLA is listed for hiring Cignetti’s successor at JMU in Bob Chesney, Washington is listed for occupying the same preseason ranking as the Hoosiers had this time last year, LSU (?) is listed for undergoing a roster upgrade with an emphasis on quarterback (which isn’t true) and Indiana is listed, well, for being Indiana.
Now listen. That’s all well and good and dressed up. Each of these programs could pull off a title in a year or two and still not be as impressive as what Cignetti has pulled off at Indiana.
Then there’s AL.com’s Kevin Scarbinsky, who implores anyone seeking the next Indiana in 2026 to take a peek at… Auburn.
Now, Auburn hasn’t exactly been the picture of intelligent management for the past several years, this is true. Auburn is also led by a first-year coach, Alex Golesh, who the Tigers hired away from South Florida this past offseason after getting tired of handing their program over to Literally Hugh Freeze.
In spite of what have been some really tough to watch seasons under Freeze and his predecessor, Bryan Harsin, Auburn is not at all reminiscent of pre-2024 Indiana. Auburn is 806-408-47 all-time and claims nine national championships, including two since 2000.
Auburn is not Indiana because it’s not only conceivable to win there in the 21st century, we’ve seen the Tigers operating at the highest levels of the sport. Multiple times. Several of us doing so with our own eyes. Way back in 2023 B.C. (Before Cignetti) there was no reason to believe winning 10 games at Indiana was possible, let alone 16, because nobody had ever done it in over a century of trying. Auburn has 14 seasons with 10 or more wins in its history.
Even in the event that Golesh pulls off an 11-1 season with a playoff appearance in year one, he’ll be doing it in a place where we’ve seen 10+ wins as recently as 2010 and 9+ wins as recently as 2019. Would it be an accomplishment worth praise? Absolutely.
But it wouldn’t be Indiana.
And nothing ever will be.
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