We’ve reached the pinnacle of talking season, and lots of people are talking about Indiana football.
As we’ve shared throughout the offseason, most national commentators and computer models are not picking the Hoosiers to repeat as national champions in 2026.
But don’t count ESPN’s Pete Thamel among the IU doubters.
“I’m just going to spoiler alert everything here,” Thamel said on the College GameDay Podcast. “I said this when we did way-too-early, whatever, in January after the year. I’m taking Indiana. Until they prove otherwise, I am taking Indiana.
“That’s not that I think Ohio State’s gonna be bad, or anyone else is gonna be bad. But I am all in on Indiana.”
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On the same podcast, ESPN’s Rece Davis said he think Penn State football can be the next Indiana.
You read that right.
The team with the seventh-most all-time wins can aspire to be the program with the second-most all-time losses. The college football world has truly flipped upside-down.
“If you are of the belief that maybe there is someone who will make an Indiana-like unexpected run, certainly not a program that has been in the depths of despair for generations as Indiana had been prior to Curt Cignetti’s arrival, but one who might follow the blueprint that Indiana established for a very quick turnaround,” Davis said. “I submit to you the Penn State Nittany ‘Clones.”
Davis called them the clones because new PSU head coach Matt Campbell brought 24 players with him from Iowa State — significantly more than the 13 Curt Cignetti brought to IU from James Madison.
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Speaking of Penn State, remember Pat Kraft? Along with Scott Dolson, he was widely viewed as one of two finalists to replace IU AD Fred Glass. Instead the former IU football player ended up becoming the AD at Penn State.
Kraft was asked recently about the resources Penn State is directing towards the men’s basketball program.
“Are we in the top? No, we’re not spending $20 million on a basketball roster,” Kraft said on the Nittany Dispatch podcast. “And I gotta be honest, I don’t know if there will ever be a point where we would spend $20 million on a basketball roster. It’s not a good investment. Let’s just call it what it is.”
How do we think Kraft’s philosophy would have been greeted in Bloomington? What if IU took that same approach for football before it hired Cignetti?
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Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti was asked Tuesday his impressions of Dolson and Cignetti. Here’s his full quote:
“You sort of saw it right away in the start of that first season when the winning started, and I think there was skepticism about lots of things around Indiana and their first year when they went to Notre Dame, they lost to a team that made the final, and I think that somehow that season was sort of looked at in a way that wasn’t respectful in terms of how good that football team was.
“You saw them double down and come out and do what they did last year, going through a difficult schedule and an incredible postseason run and the way they played and dominated across most of the games they played.
“Look, I mean, I think everybody will tell you in the Big Ten all the people that get to work with Scott (Dolson), he’s tremendous to work with. He’s collaborative. He cares deeply about the entire league. He fights hard for Indiana.
“I think Cig is unique in terms of what his focus is. I think obviously the decision to bring Cig into the league has been something that you just can’t imagine this when this hire was made and the success. We’re obviously really extremely happy for the way it’s worked out there and the quality of players and the program and the reaction.
“More importantly, the reaction from the fans and just what that is now on a Saturday at Indiana. It’s just absolutely great.”
For Petitti’s full remarks at Big Ten Football media days, watch below:
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