MIAMI – Forty-nine years, nine months, and 23 days ago, Indiana basketball won a national championship to complete the last undefeated college basketball season the sport has seen. Two days ago, Indiana football immortalized itself in a similar way, defeating Miami 27-21 to win its first national championship and to complete the first-ever 16-0 season in the modern era of college football.
Indiana University is now home to the most recent undefeated college football and basketball teams in the country.
However, Indiana’s rise wasn’t the result of a single recruiting class or one lucky season. It was the product of a university-wide buy-in around Indiana coach Curt Cignetti’s uncompromising vision.
“The power of Hoosier Nation, I think everyone around the country is feeling it,” Indiana University athletic director Scott Dolson said. “It is unbelievable, and the support that we have, the sacrifices that people have made for our program is beyond words that I can adequately express. It really is amazing.”
Cignetti was brought to Indiana because he had a clear plan for the program. A disciple of college football legend Nick Saban, Cignetti had won everywhere he had coached. Beginning at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, then Elon University, then James Madison, Cignetti’s process was proven.
All you needed to do was Google him to find out about it.
“He had a proven track record of winning,” Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones said. “Winning was the expectation, it wasn’t you go out there and play your best and hope for the best. No, it was you’re going to go out there and you’re going to play a dominant football game and it doesn’t matter who you’re playing.” When Cignetti made the change from JMU to IU, 13 of his players transferred with him. The players were bought in. To Cignetti, and to his system.
Indiana started the season 10-0 for the first time in program history, and immediately the university matched the commitment of Cignetti’s players. President Pamela Whitten and Dolson extended Cignetti after his 10-0 start in 2024, signing him to an eight-year, $64 million deal in October 2024.
The Hoosiers finished the season 11-2, IU’s first winning season since 2020, and its first 11-win season ever. Only Ohio State and Notre Dame beat IU in 2024, and both of those teams played for the college football championship trophy.
“He has the ability to get everybody working in the same direction, thinking in the same way. Nobody works harder than him,” Indiana offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan said.
IU’s buy-in grew between the ‘24 and ‘25 seasons. The Hoosiers brought in the 25th-best transfer class which included the fourth best quarterback in the portal: Fernando Mendoza. With a beefed up squad for the 2025 season, the Hoosiers got off to a rapid start. Indiana started 6-0, which included two of the best wins in program history, taking down Iowa and Oregon on the road.
IU beat the Hawkeyes 20-15 thanks to a game-winning touchdown toss from Mendoza to wide receiver Elijah Sarratt with less than a minute and a half left to play. Two weeks later, the Hoosiers were in Eugene, trying to take down the No. 3 Oregon Ducks who had, at the time, the longest home winning streak in the country.
Again, Mendoza threw a game-winner to Sarratt with less than a minute and a half left to play, and the Hoosiers beat the Ducks 30-20.
“You believe what he’s saying and he stands on what he’s saying,” Sarratt said. “He preaches a lot to you when you go into that office and you’re talking to him, but when you commit, shake his hand that first day, you see his plan and you see what he’s about, and you believe what he’s believing.”
Indiana’s gutsy win over Oregon proved to Whitten and Dolson that their buy-in was worth it. And that they needed to do it again. Indiana University extended Cignetti five days after the Hoosiers beat the Ducks, signing him through 2033 for $93 million.
Cignetti is now the fourth-highest-paid coach in college football.
“Just like Scott and I, [Cignetti] believes,” President Whitten said. “He always believed, and that’s part of who we are.”
Everyone in the building was fully committed to Cignetti and the new-look Hoosiers. But what about those outside the building?
Many Indiana alumni want the Hoosiers ’success to be long-term. That’s especially true of Shark Tank phenom and IU alumnus, Mark Cuban.
Cuban invested heavily in Indiana football. The 1981 graduate donated a large amount of money to IU’s NIL fund, allowing the Hoosiers to go out and get some of the best talent in the transfer portal after their national championship run.
So far, Indiana has held up to its side of the Cuban bargain, claiming the seventh-best transfer portal class of any school.
Again, more players are buying in.
“You want a coach that believes in you and it’s not just a facade, like it’s not fake for the media,” Jones said. “He’ll go out there and stick his neck out in front of the media for the team. You know as a player when you see that, you just want to leave it out on the field and go out there and play your heart out for a coach that coaches his heart out for you.”
For the most part, Indiana’s 2026 roster is solidified. The transfer portal for the two national championship contending teams (Indiana and Miami) closes on January 24, and the Hoosiers have already signed 17 newcomers.
Among those 17 is quarterback Josh Hoover, a transfer from TCU who was the 11th-ranked quarterback in the portal.
“When Coach Cig first came in here, we met in his office and he told me, ‘If you want to win you’re going to come here,’” Indiana wide receiver Charlie Becker said. “I don’t know what it is about him but he just finds a way to win and he’s just a fantastic coach. Again, it’s making sure everyone on the field knows exactly what their job is and they execute it to the best of their ability for six seconds of play.”
Many questions will still remain heading into the 2026 season for Indiana. What does buy-in mean now? Is this a blip or a foundation? Can Cignetti continue to rebuild year after year with portal talent?
The answers will come next August.
