The value of Indiana football’s brand has never been higer.
The return of the EA Sports College Football video game has been a big hit among fans of the sport, and it appears Indiana will be featured in multiple ways on the upcoming cover.
In a preview of the College Football 27 cover leaked in multiple social media posts, head coach Curt Cignetti is front and center on the Deluxe Edition cover, and Memorial Stadium is featured as the backdrop.
In separate leaks about the game, IU starting left tackle Carter Smith has the second-highest player rating of anyone in the nation on the game. Players who opt into the game make money from the use of their name, image and likeness.
It’s just the latest way Cignetti has garnered significant national attention. This month alone he also shared the podium at the White House and drove the Indy 500 pace car.
Also on the leaked cover are Oregon’s Dante Moore, Miami’s Malachi Toney, Notre Dame’s Leonard Moore, USC’s Jayden Maiava, Ole Miss’ Kewan Lacy, Texas’ Colin Simmons, and multiple mascots.
EA Sports has not yet confirmed the final cover. On Friday, EA Sports announced the “Opening Drive” event will reveal more information on the upcoming college football game, as well as Madden NFL 27, in “one connected showcase, covering every mode, every major innovation, and every way to play.” The event is scheduled for June 4.
In the past, EA Sports has revealed a standard edition cover with two or three players as the cover athletes, followed by a deluxe edition that includes several players and coaches. No one from Indiana has previously been on the cover.
Cignetti has quickly become an iconic figure in college football.
A two-time national coach of the year, Cignetti enters his third season as head coach at Indiana after he engineered the two most successful seasons in program history to open his coaching tenure.
Named the 30th head football coach in IU football history on December 3, 2024, his first two calendar years on campus have seen arguably the most noteworthy turnaround in FBS history.
After leading one of the best first-year turnarounds in FBS history in 2024 with an eight-win improvement over the previous season, he engineered the 16-0 College Football Playoff national championship team.
The 16 wins in 2026 tie the all-time FBS single season mark (Yale, 1894) and set the Big Ten record for victories. He has led Indiana to a nation’s-best 27 victories over his first two seasons in Bloomington, the most by an FBS coach in their first two seasons at a school all-time.
The back-to-back double-digit win seasons marked the first two in Indiana’s history, while the 17 Big Ten wins set a program-best mark over a two-year stretch and are tied for No. 2 in Big Ten history.
Nationally, Cignetti was the first-ever Division I head coach to start 8-0 or better in consecutive seasons at different institutions and the third ever to begin consecutive seasons at 10-0. He is also just the third Big Ten head coach to start each of his first two seasons with at least an 8-0 record along with Urban Meyer (Ohio State; 2012-13) and Fielding Yost (Michigan; 1901-02).
He won 14 of the 17 national coach of the year awards he was eligible in his first two seasons at Indiana, which includes being the first back-to-back winner for five of those honors. Along with the national accolades, Cignetti is the first coach to win both the Hayes-Schembechler (coaches vote) and Dave McClain (media vote) Big Ten Coach of the Year awards in consecutive seasons in conference history (1982-91, 2011-present).
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