Indiana’s rise under Curt Cignetti has been so fast that the next step almost feels inevitable: keep the defending-championship streak alive.
In the College Football Playoff era, only Georgia has put together back-to-back national titles, doing it in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Indiana, after going 16-0 and winning the national championship last season, is trying to become the second program to pull it off. And based on the numbers, the Hoosiers should have no trouble staying in that conversation in 2026.
The bigger picture is simple. Defending national champions usually don’t fall apart the next year.
Every national champion in the 21st century has won at least eight games the following season, with the COVID-shortened 2020 season excluded. Go back even further and the last defending champ to miss the eight-win mark the next year was Ohio State in 1971.
That’s more than 50 years of title teams at least clearing that bar.
Indiana is not just another champion trying to repeat a familiar pattern, though. This is a program that went from having the most losses in college football history to a national title in two seasons.
That kind of climb is unprecedented, and it makes the Hoosiers’ place in the 2026 preseason picture even more striking. They enter the year as one of the favorites to win it all again.
The betting market agrees with the optimism. Indiana’s win total at DraftKings Sportsbook is 10.5, tied with Oregon and Ohio State for the highest in the Big Ten and tied for the second-highest in the country. The Hoosiers should be favored in at least 11 games, with Ohio State the clear exception.
The schedule gives them plenty of room to stack wins early. North Texas, Howard, and Western Kentucky are all on the non-conference slate, and matchups with Northwestern, Rutgers, and Nebraska also look friendly. In the best-case scenario, Indiana could be 6-0 before its October 17 meeting with Ohio State.
That’s where the stretch gets real. The week after Ohio State brings a trip to Michigan, and that two-game run stands out as the toughest part of the season. After that, Indiana gets Minnesota, USC, and Purdue at home, plus a road game at Washington later in the year.
Add in the returning defensive production and the transfer portal help on offense, and the path to eight wins looks well within reach. A 9-3 season could even be viewed as the floor. But Cignetti has already shown this team can reach higher than that.
He is 27-2 in two seasons in Bloomington and has lost only one Big Ten game. Both of his losses came in 2024 against Ohio State and Notre Dame, the same two teams that met in the CFP National Championship Game that season. That record is the kind of proof that travels, and it’s a big reason Indiana has every reason to believe its title run can keep rolling in 2026.
In Other News...
Fernando Mendoza Just Got His First Real Raiders Reality Check
The early part of Fernando Mendozas Raiders career has already delivered a reminder that draft status does not automatically equal immediate control. Las Vegas took the former Indiana quarterback first overall in the 2026 NFL Draft, then added veteran Kirk Cousins shortly after, giving the rookie a clear challenge in his first training camp with the team.
Now the first unofficial depth chart reflects the picture that has been forming on the field, with Cousins in line to start and Mendoza listed behind him. Mendoza has reportedly improved during camp, but the veteran is still carrying the edge for Week 1, and the competition is shaping up as a real test of how quickly the rookie can narrow the gap. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen McCuin Is Giving Ohio State Fans A New Reason To Watch
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For Indiana fans, it is the same familiar reminder that the roster chessboard is still shifting across the sport, with Ohio State, Miami, Alabama and Texas all sorting out young talent and new leaders. McCuins push is still just that, a push, but it has been enough to give Buckeyes supporters a reason to pay closer attention to how the receiving group settles in before the season starts. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Has Work To Do For An In-State Linebacker Prize
Curt Cignettis staff has made plenty of headway on the recruiting trail, and one of the more intriguing names on the early board is East Noble linebacker Austin Phillips. The 2029 prospect is already being tracked like a priority in the state, and his fall schedule says as much: he plans to spend game days at Indiana, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee, Michigan State and Purdue, giving him a close look at several programs that routinely sell a path for in-state defenders.
For Indiana, the appeal is obvious. Phillips is regarded as one of the top freshman linebacker prospects in the state, and he is expected to follow that with a strong sophomore season. The challenge now is less about getting on his radar than staying there as the visits stack up and the pitch gets more serious over the next year. [Read more 🡒]