Indiana football’s 2026 roster spending is still behind a veil of secrecy, but the picture around Curt Cignetti’s program is getting a little clearer.
Nobody outside the program knows the official NIL numbers, and that’s probably not changing anytime soon. Even so, the reporting that’s surfaced suggests Indiana hasn’t been operating like one of college football’s biggest checkbooks over the past two seasons. That didn’t stop the Hoosiers from winning the national championship in 2025, and it hasn’t slowed their rise in the roster-building race.
CBS Sports recently ranked the most expensive rosters in college football for the upcoming season, and Indiana was nowhere to be found. That prompted another CBS piece digging into why the Hoosiers weren’t on that list, and the answer seems to be that the program has spent with more restraint than some of its peers while still landing impact talent.
Indiana did not attack the transfer portal as aggressively this offseason as it did in either of the previous two years. Instead, CBS reports the Hoosiers were more selective, targeting fewer players but still coming away with major additions such as former TCU quarterback Josh Hoover, former Michigan State wide receiver Nick Marsh and former Kansas State defensive lineman Tobi Osunsanmi, among others. Even with a smaller class of newcomers, Indiana’s haul still sat near the top of the rankings.
So while the exact dollar figure remains unknown, the reporting points to a program that is spending enough to stay in the thick of the fight in 2026 and beyond.
In Other News...
Former Hoosier Reed Bailey Just Closed The Book On His Indiana Exit
A federal court ruling out of Colorado has stirred another round of roster churn for Indiana, restoring eligibility for college athletes from the high school Class of 2022 for the 2026-27 season and sending a few Hoosiers back into the mix. Football players Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt, along with basketball player Sam Alexis, are set to return, while Darian DeVries has already been busy reshaping the basketball roster with a well-regarded transfer haul for the coming season.
For Reed Bailey, the update only reinforces how much has changed since his name first entered the conversation. He spent one season at Indiana before moving on and is now settled into a new stop in the Big East, leaving the Hoosiers to sort through the ripple effects of a ruling that reopened a path he no longer plans to use. [Read more 🡒]
Fernando Mendoza Sacrificed More Than Fans Realized To Choose Indiana
Fernando Mendozas move from Cal to Indiana was never just about chasing the biggest payday on the table. He had offers from Miami and Georgia, but he chose the Hoosiers for the chance to develop under Curt Cignetti, a decision shaped in part by the voice of his mother, Elsa, and by a belief that Indiana was the best place for his career to grow. The financial gap was real, and it made the choice look even more striking in hindsight.
What followed turned the gamble into one of the defining stories in recent Indiana football history. Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy, became the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft and helped lead the Hoosiers through a 16-0 season to a national championship. For Indiana, it was a reminder that the most important recruiting victories are not always the ones measured in dollars. [Read more 🡒]
Curt Cignetti's Rise Is Fueling A New Memorial Stadium Debate
Indianas football surge under Curt Cignetti has done more than change the mood around the program. It has also helped push Memorial Stadium into a new phase of planning, as Indiana University looks at a major renovation aimed at modernizing the fan experience after extensive surveys of supporters and other stakeholders. The project is being framed as part of the programs broader momentum, with the recent rise in interest making the building issue feel a lot more urgent than it did a few years ago.
For now, the athletic department is still working behind the scenes on the financing for the larger capital project, which means the public view of the plan is still limited. Even so, the direction is clear enough: Indiana wants to update the stadium without losing what already makes it usable on game days, and the growing enthusiasm around Cignetti has only strengthened the case for getting it done. [Read more 🡒]