Curt Cignetti Bailed on Non-Conference Games to Create "an SEC Schedule"

Curt Cignetti did the impossible in year one. He took the Indiana Hoosiers to the College Football Playoff. He talked big game ahead of his debut and backed it up. Now he’s backing away from tough competition outside of the Big Ten.

The Indiana football schedule shouldn’t be the most talked-about story during the Talking SZN at Media Days, but Cignetti has found a way to make headlines.

It became a point of conversation around the Commonwealth when Indiana bought out two of the remaining three games of the series against Louisville. After Louisville won at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2023, Indiana paid Louisville $2 million to take them off the schedule and replace the Cards with an FCS opponent.

The Hoosiers made a similar move earlier this summer with Virginia. Indiana cancelled the home-and-home that was scheduled for 2027-2028 and replaced it with FCS opponents. Cignetti was confronted about his scheduling decisions at Big Ten Media Days.

“We figured we’d just adopt an SEC schedule and focus on our conference games,” Cignetti said.

“We need to standardize the schedule across the board if we want to have objective criteria for who should be in the playoffs and who shouldn’t, and we need to take the decision making off the committee to some degree.”

That was a clear shot across the bow at the SEC. The two leagues are at odds over the future of the CFP format.

The Big Ten is for playoff expansion, but only if the SEC goes to nine league games. Greg Sankey argued during his opening statement in Atlanta that the SEC’s schedule is rigorous enough as is, noting that nearly every team in the conference will play at least nine Power Conference opponents, with many playing ten games against Power Conference foes. The one exception is Ole Miss, who had to find a replacement game after Wake Forest cancelled its series with the Rebels following a 40-6 loss last fall. Meanwhile, the Big Ten has six teams (Indiana, Maryland, Northwestern, Rutgers, Penn State, Washington) who won’t play one non-conference game against a team from the Power Conference ranks.

Indiana’s Future Non-Conference Foes
2025: ODU, Kennesaw St, Indiana State
2026: Colorado St, WKU
2027: Kennesaw State, Indiana St, UMass
2028: Austin Peay, E. Michigan
2029: Ball State, E. Illinois, WKU

It’s easy to criticize Cignetti for ducking Power Conference foes, but let’s be candid, it’s Indiana football. They should do whatever they can structurally to put themselves in the best position to succeed. They were one of the benefactors of the elimination of divisions in the Big Ten. That’s not going to happen every year.

The Hoosiers will face plenty of formidable foes in Big Ten competition during Cignetti’s tenure, but there’s great irony in his decision-making. After all, as soon as he arrived in Bloomington, he took shots at Michigan and Ohio State. He doesn’t sound so eager to take a step at the big dogs after getting humbled in South Bend last December.