Who can forget Indiana coach Curt Cignetti’s bold declaration before he got blown out by Notre Dame in the first round of the College Football Playoff back in 2024? "We don't just beat Top 25 teams, we beat the s--- out of them."
As of Monday, a better quote from the Hoosier coach might be “we don’t just schedule cupcakes, we run from Power 4 teams.”
It’s strange to consider a coach who is coming off a 16-0, national title season as scared to schedule anyone, anywhere. Still, it’s also hard to deny that considering what transpired earlier this week. Lost in the news of Notre Dame restarting its rivalry series with USC is that IU made it much easier by backing out of a home-and-home series with the Fighting Irish.
When it was first announced that the series between Notre Dame and Indiana was canceled, many assumed the Golden Domers were the ones who backed out in favor of the Trojans. Of course, that never made much sense, considering being an independent means the Irish always have other weeks on the schedule they need to fill.
Curt Cignetti’s tough talk rings hollow after Indiana cancels Notre Dame football series
Not long after Marcus Freeman and Co. started taking heat for the cancellation of the in-state rivalry series, Indiana turned the burners down by admitting it was the school that had asked to cancel the non-conference faceoff.
Cignetti and his crew backing out of the games against Notre Dame is especially surprising considering that the Hoosiers have already taken plenty of heat for their schedule being full of cupcakes. They had been able to point to the games against the Irish as proof that they weren’t scared of scheduling Power 4 opponents.
For a tough-talking head coach who has taken one of the most moribund programs in the history of the sport to the top of the mountain, it’s almost as though Cignetti wants to continue taking heat for a ridiculously easy non-conference slate. The Hoosiers are now the only school on their level that doesn’t have any P4 opponents outside of the Big Ten for the next five years.
That’s not even the real problem. Not only aren’t there any Power 4 teams on the slate, but the schools that are on there would be embarrassing for Rutgers, Maryland, or Northwestern.
The 2026 schedule has Indiana playing North Texas, Howard, and Western Kentucky. That’s the toughest group of the bunch. 2027 is Kennesaw State, Indiana State, and UMass. 2028 is Austin Peay, Eastern Michigan, and Miami (OH). 2029 is Ball State, Eastern Illinois, and Western Kentucky. 2030, the year that the Hoosiers were supposed to play Notre Dame, is so far just Delaware and Indiana State.
On the one hand, if Cignetti wants to guarantee that his team wins at least six games a year, he’s taking a big step in that direction. On the other hand, if he wants to stop the talk that the Hoosiers are scared of tough early-season opponents, this isn’t going to do it.
Curt Cignetti isn’t a coward. His team took on some of the best teams in the country and overcame every single one of them. But he’s never going to get the respect that deserves, nor should he, if he keeps ducking programs like Notre Dame, especially if it involves backing out of agreed upon games.
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