Indiana hasn’t lost a football game since December 2024.
Next, consider this: The Hoosiers had the worst all-time record of any Power Four program in the country until the middle of the 2025 season.
Even now, Indiana ranks 126th among programs that have played multiple FBS seasons, with 521 wins and 715 losses. To date, Akron — yes, Akron! — still has a better all-time winning percentage (.468) than Indiana (.424).
But since the arrival of head coach Curt Cignetti, the facts on the ground in Bloomington have changed. And I refuse to ignore them.
Curt Cignetti has the most wins by any Big Ten head coach in his first two seasons. (Photo by Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
With the Hoosiers set to kick off their 2026 national title defense with a visit from North Texas on Saturday (noon ET, FOX), it’s important to revisit the reasoning why I ranked Indiana No. 1 in my Ultimate 138 College Football Rankings.
1. Curt Cignetti is still the head coach.
2. The best record in the sport over the last two seasons (27-2) belongs to Indiana.
3. The Hoosiers are the reigning national champions and the first team since 1894 to finish 16-0.
Those are the reasons to believe in Indiana. The more important question is whether the Hoosiers still have the players to back it up.
Transfer quarterback Josh Hoover is a big reason why the Hoosiers remain as formidable in 2026 as they were during last year’s title run. The nation’s leading returning passer has thrown for 9,629 yards in just 36 career games. With wideouts Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh catching passes, Indiana has the firepower to make another run at the top of the sport.
Josh Hoover has the most career passing yards of any active FBS player. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images for ONIT)
This weekend, in front of what should be a packed house at Memorial Stadium, we’ll get a glimpse of just how good Hoover is, now playing with what Cignetti describes as his “two new best friends:” a good rushing attack and a great defense.
If Indiana can run the ball and play defense this year like it did last year, Hoover isn’t likely to turn the ball over nearly as much as he did at TCU, if only because he won’t be asked to do nearly as much.
There’s precedent for that in Bloomington. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana’s quarterback last season and the 2025 Heisman winner, averaged 35 pass attempts per game in his final season at Cal. That number dropped to 24 in his first season with the Hoosiers. Hoover averaged 34 attempts last year at TCU, and I expect Indiana’s offense to bring that number down, too.
But that’s only if the Hoosiers can run the ball for more than 200 yards at better than five yards per carry in 2026. Against a rebuilding North Texas team, that shouldn’t be a problem. If it is, perhaps the Hoosiers really can revert to their pre-2024 ways.
That would shock me. But so did Indiana becoming the best program in the sport in just two short years.
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