There are a few big personalities in the Big Ten in 2025, but none are as Galactus-sized as Curt Cignetti’s is. He wasted no time getting his Big Ten rivals’ attention. In his first public appearance as Indiana head coach at a basketball game, Cignetti declared, “Hey, look, I’m super fired up about this opportunity. I’ve never taken a back seat to anybody and don’t plan on starting now. Purdue sucks! But so does Michigan and Ohio State! Go IU!” Regardless of the level, Cignetti has been successful, as evidenced by his infamous “Google me” quip days before Christmas in 2023. When he interviewed for the position, Indiana athletic director walked away impressed and said Cignettit wasn’t arrogant or cocky but rather extremely confident and authentic.
Now, after he led Indiana to its greatest season in program history, culminating in a College Football Playoff appearance, Cignetti is stirring the pot once again at Big Ten Media Days.
Curt Cignetti is the Gift That Keeps on Giving
Poking The Bear
One of the hotly-contested issues in college football is the number of conference games a team should play. In the Big Ten, all 18 teams play nine conference games and three out-of-conference games. In the SEC, however, they play eight and four. When it comes to weighing conferences, the Big Ten is guaranteed to have nine more losses than it would have if it elected to play eight conference games and fill with FCS or MAC teams. Considering Indiana has historically been on par with MAC programs, it makes sense that it would schedule weak out-of-conference.
Cignetti fired shots toward the SEC. Indiana cancelled a home-and-home with Virginia (which is not much of a power right now, but still in the ACC) and replaced those games with FCS teams. When asked about it, Cignetti said, “We just figured we would adopt an SEC scheduling philosophy.” Of the 16 SEC teams, 12 play three G5 or an FCS team. Those 12’s 36 non-conference games, 29 are against the Group of 5, and seven are against FCS teams.
He called for standardization across college football scheduling to allow the committee to have objective criteria, which is fair. The only way to have a semi-legitimate process for picking teams is to make the committee’s job easier. If all programs play eight in-conference, four out-of-conference, it’s easier. Of course, when you have 18-team superconferences, things get squirrelly. Imagine if three teams end up unbeaten in conference.
Cignetti also co-signed the idea that the Big Ten deserves automatic qualifiers, citing the fact that Ohio State (7-2 in Big Ten play) finished fourth in the conference and eventually won it all. He also co-signed on the play-in tournament idea, but we aren’t hitching our wagon to that idea.
The SEC Non-Conference in 2025
Cignetti is right when it comes to criticizing the SEC and its non-conference practices. Here is the conference’s non-conference slate:
- Alabama: at Florida State, vs. UL-Monroe, vs. Wisconsin, vs. Eastern Illinois
- Arkansas: vs Alabama A&M, vs. Arkansas State, at Memphis, vs. Notre Dame
- Auburn: at Baylor, vs. Ball State, vs South Alabama, vs. Mercer
- Florida: vs. Long Island, vs. USF, at Miami (FL), vs. Florida State
- Georgia: vs. Marshall, vs. Austin Peay, vs. Charlotte, at Georgia Tech
- Kentucky: vs. Toledo, vs. Eastern Michigan, vs. Tennessee Tech, at Louisville
- LSU: at Clemson, vs. Louisiana Tech, vs. Southeastern Louisiana, vs. Western Kentucky
- Ole Miss: vs. Georgia State, vs. Tulane, vs. Washington State, vs. The Citadel
- Mississippi State: at Southern Mississippi, vs. Arizona State, vs. Alcorn State, vs. Northern Illinois
- Missouri: vs. Central Arkansas, vs. Kansas, vs. Louisiana, vs. UMASS
- Oklahoma: vs. Illinois State, vs. Michigan, at Temple, vs. Kent State
- South Carolina: vs. Virginia Tech, vs. South Carolina State, vs. Coastal Carolina, vs. Clemson
- Tennessee: vs. Syracuse, vs. Eastern Tennessee State, vs. UAB, vs. New Mexico State
- Texas: at Ohio State, vs. San Jose State, vs. UTEP, vs. Sam Houston State
- Texas A&M: vs. UTSA, vs. Utah State, at Notre Dame, vs. Samford
- Vanderbilt: vs. Charleston Southern, at Virginia Tech, vs. Georgia State, vs. Utah State
There is a special term for the SEC’s schedule in the penultimate week, but it’s not suitable for printing. The reason? Three teams play FCS teams, three play Group of 5 teams, and two, incredibly, have bye weeks. Admittedly, it’s more tame this year compared to past years.
All in all, yes, Cignetti has a point. While there are a few great matchups like Texas at Ohio State and LSU at Clemson, the SEC gets propped up with wins over FCS and probably-should-be-FCS teams. Imagine how many bowl-eligible teams the Big Ten could have if it swapped out that ninth matchup for the local FCS team.
Criticize it all day, it works. Even though the SEC hasn’t even appeared in a national championship game since Georgia won it all over TCU, we can’t deny the last 20 years of SEC dominance. At a certain point, it’s “don’t hate the player, hate the game” and “if you can’t beat them, join them.”
Indiana’s Future Non-Conference
Cignetti has only been on the job for a year, but Indiana has had this mentality for a while. For a program with only one double-digit-win season (last year) and nothing close to a national title, Indiana has worked to get wins anywhere it could. Hence, the Hoosiers played easier non-conference schedules. If the Hoosiers can go 3-0 outside of the Big Ten, they only need three Big Ten wins to qualify for a bowl. Now that it’s not tied to a division with Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State, it could be a little easier.
With the change to the future schedule, Indiana’s non-conference slates for the next three odd-year seasons are set with matchups scheduled through 2032.
- 2025: vs. Old Dominion, vs. Kennesaw State, vs. Indiana State
- 2026: vs. Colorado State, vs. Western Kentucky
- 2027: vs. Kennesaw State, vs. Indiana State, vs. UMass
- 2028: vs. Austin Peay, vs. Eastern Michigan
- 2029: vs. Ball State, vs. Eastern Illinois, vs. Western Kentucky
- 2030: at Notre Dame, vs. Delaware
- 2031: vs. Notre Dame
- 2032: at UConn
While there are two matchups with Notre Dame, there are not many world beaters on this list. Cignetti gets it. With the CFP expanding, Indiana is going to look for as many wins as it possibly can. Ohio State won a national title with an out-of-conference schedule of Akron, Western Michigan, and Marshall…is anyone questioning their legitimacy as champions or arguing that they should not have made the CFP because of it?
Main Image: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images
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