Indiana’s run toward another national title is running into the same wall it hit a year ago: skepticism.
ESPN’s panel of 12 college football analysts made their 2026 national champion picks, and not a single one took Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers to repeat. Five picked Notre Dame, three went with Ohio State, and two each chose Oregon and Texas.
That comes on the heels of another round of cautious national forecasting for Indiana. AP top-5 pollsters slotted the Hoosiers at No. 6 in the preseason rankings, a spot that carries an ugly recent trend: each of the last four reigning national champions to open the next preseason poll outside the top five ended up finishing unranked.
The bigger picture, though, is simple enough. Repeating is hard. Only three teams have done it in the last 30 years.
Still, Indiana has heard this song before. A year ago, plenty of analysts were convinced the 2024 breakthrough was a fluke built on a weak schedule. That take aged poorly, with the Hoosiers then entering the 2025 preseason AP top-25 at No. 20 before going 16-0.
This time around, ESPN’s panel isn’t exactly burying Indiana. Every one of the 12 has the Hoosiers back in the College Football Playoff.
The difference is in the path: only Kyle Bonagura has Indiana earning a first-round bye, slotting them at No. 4.
The other 11 have IU in the No. 5 through No. 8 range, which would mean hosting a first-round playoff game.
The panel also doesn’t see Indiana repeating as Big Ten champion. In every projection, at least one - and in some cases two - conference teams, including Ohio State and Oregon, are seeded ahead of the Hoosiers.
Of course, as Chris Berman likes to say: “But that’s why they play the games,”
Indiana gets the chance to start proving people wrong Saturday, when it hosts North Texas at Noon ET in Bloomington.
In Other News...
Indiana Is Betting Big On Josh Hoover For One Critical Reason
Indianas quarterback plan took an important turn in early January when Josh Hoover arrived from TCU, giving Curt Cignetti another experienced option to shape the offense around. Hoover comes with real college seasoning after three seasons in Fort Worth, including multiple starts and enough game action to prove he is far beyond the usual transfer-project label.
Cignetti has made it clear he wants a quarterback who can step in and lead, which is why Hoovers track record matters so much to the Hoosiers. Indiana is looking for a steady hand under center, and the appeal here is obvious: a passer with production, experience and a profile that invites the same kind of optimism the program attached to Fernando Mendoza. [Read more 🡒]
Nico Radicic Is Already Crucial For Indiana And Still Has More To Prove
Since Curt Cignetti arrived in 2024, Nico Radicic has quietly become one of Indiana footballs most dependable weapons, the kind of specialist whose value shows up in tight games and then fades back into the background. He has been highly accurate on extra points and has converted most of his field goals, giving the Hoosiers a level of stability at kicker that is easy to overlook until the pressure rises.
That reliability mattered most in the 2026 National Championship game, when Radicic drilled a 35-yard field goal late to help extend Indianas lead. Even with that kind of moment on his resume, there is still a layer of unfinished business for him, especially as he works to improve from longer range while carrying Lou Groza Award watch-list expectations into the next stretch of his career. [Read more 🡒]
Curt Cignetti Uses These Indiana Games For Something Bigger Than Wins
Indianas early non-conference games have not always looked like the kind that turn heads on a national stage, but for Curt Cignetti and his staff, they serve a larger purpose. Against Florida International and Old Dominion, Indiana has treated those matchups as a laboratory of sorts, using them to test ideas, sort out player roles and see what actually translates once Big Ten play begins.
One of the clearest examples has been the way the Hoosiers have worked to tap into Fernando Mendozas mobility while also keeping trusted targets like Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. involved in the ways that have already proven useful. The point is not to pile up blowouts or chase style points in September. It is to leave those first few games with answers, even if the scoreboard looks more ordinary than the programs bigger ambitions. [Read more 🡒]