Author: Mike Schumann

From athletes and coaches to advocates and investors, these are the people shaping sports today, says Time Magazine. Time included IU football coach Curt Cignetti on the list of the Top 100 most influential people in sports, including him as one of the “titans.” Here’s what Time said about Cignetti: Two words will forever be associated with Curt Cignetti, who led Indiana to its first national football championship in January: “Google me.” That’s what Cignetti said at the national-signing-day press conference in 2023 when asked how he was going to sell his vision for the Hoosiers to high school recruits…

Congratulations to former Indiana quarterback Brendan Sorsby. No, not for his shameful victory in a Texas court that will ostensibly allow him to play college football in 2026. Rather, congrats to Sorsby for finding the one issue that has near universal backing from fans and the media in support of the NCAA — save for some intellectually dishonest Texas Tech fans. Just how egregiously must one behave to rally sports fans and the media behind the NCAA? By his own admission, Sorsby placed thousands of bets totaling at least $90,000 in clear violation of NCAA rules, including dozens involving his…

James Madison quarterback Ben DiNucci found out very quickly things were going to be different in 2019. DiNucci’s redshirt senior year at JMU lined up with Curt Cignetti’s first season in Harrisonburg. After starting his college career at Pitt, DiNucci transferred to James Madison, and he was coming of a strong 2018 season.  He started all 13 games for the Dukes and was named third Team All-CAA quarterback. DiNucci completed 211-of-309 pass attempts for 2,275 yards and 16 touchdowns, with 12 interceptions in 2018.  He also rushed for 433 yards and a team-best nine touchdowns, averaging 4.0 yards per carry.…

Nobody outside the IU football program thought the Hoosiers could do it. For nearly three years, no one had done it. Coming into their Oct. 11 home game against IU, the No. 2 ranked Oregon Ducks had won 24 straight regular season games, and 19 straight at Autzen Stadium.  They were 41-1 at home going back to 2018. The odds were literally stacked against Indiana. Vegas had Oregon as a 7.5 point favorite, and ESPN’s FPI gave the Hoosiers just a 32% chance to win. The Ducks came in averaging 46.6 points per game, and quarterback Dante Moore was the…

Former IU football running back Sampson James was recognized on the street in Austin, Texas by an individual named Jasper Steinmetz. James had been homeless in Austin for seven months, he said in an Instagram post by Steinmetz. Steinmetz recognized the IU Athletics bag James was carrying and struck up a conversation. Since then, Steinmetz started a GoFundMe and has helped James get clothing, food and other essentials. Several former Indiana players have donated to the cause, including Mike Katic, Peyton Hendershot, Aaron Casey and CJ West. Steinmetz reported on Saturday he had secured a place to live for James…

For the first 26 games of the Curt Cignetti era at Indiana, ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum couldn’t get out of his own way. He gave bad take, after bad take, after bad take, including a comparison, when IU gave Cignetti a contract extension in October, to how Michigan State gave Mel Tucker a raise and a contract extension just before that program imploded. Well known for his SEC bias, Finebaum continued to embarrass himself by predicting an Alabama win over IU at the Rose Bowl.  His takes became so nauseating, even nice guys like IU radio voice Don…

Curt Cignetti entered the national conversation on nonconference scheduling a year ago on brand, jumping in unfiltered with two feet. At the Big Ten Football media days last July, Cignetti made splash when he said IU had adjusted its nonconference schedule to adopt the “SEC philosophy” of playing nine games against Power 4 competition.  It was a reasonable comment at the time, as most teams in the SEC were in fact playing just nine Power 4 opponents each season. Perhaps just by coincidence, a month later the SEC announced it was moving to a nine-game conference schedule while requiring that…

EA Sports revealed College Football 27 on Thursday evening, and IU football coach Curt Cignetti was prominently featured in the trailer. Cignetti read the script for the trailer, and live shots of him at Memorial Stadium were included. “I only care if it turns into one thing on Saturday….winning,” Cignetti said in an iconic moment during the trailer. As previously reported, Cignetti is also on the cover for the Deluxe Edition of the game. Do it for U. The official College Football 27 reveal trailer is HERE! Become an MVP+ Member for 7-Day Early Access & more. 🔗: https://t.co/gx6UEYTGcB pic.twitter.com/pasul9U3wn…

Interior linemen on both sides of the football rarely get the respect they deserve. While the edge rushers get most of the sacks and tackles for loss, defensive tackles often toil in the trenches with little to show for their efforts on the stat sheet. While that’s true to an extent for Indiana’s Tyrique Tucker, he was also certainly recognized in 2025. After compiling 40 tackles, six sacks, 12 tackles for loss, and two pass breakups, Tucker earned third-team All-America by the Associated Press and first-team All-Big Ten by the conference media and coaches panels. Despite those accolades, Tucker isn’t…

Indiana has made a splash in recent days with a wave of high-profile commits in the high school recruiting class of 2027. And with their number of verbal commitments now in the double digits, it’s time to start periodically monitoring how the Hoosiers are faring relative to their FBS and Big Ten peers in the rising senior class. As of Thursday afternoon, Indiana’s 11-player class is ranked No. 29 nationally by On3/Rivals, and No. 30 by 247Sports.  Both outlets say IU’s class is just the 11th best in the Big Ten at the moment. ESPN only has rankings for the…