The No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers football team came back down to Earth on Saturday, losing their first game of the season.
While the final score says the Ohio State Buckeyes defeated them 38-15, the reality is that OSU ran away with the game, rattling off 31 consecutive points thanks in part to IU miscues.
Ohio State takes a 28-7 lead over Indiana! 🏈🔥pic.twitter.com/ri9Yz5g1LW
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) November 23, 2024
Critics pointed to this game as an opportunity to prove Indiana wasn’t a paper tiger after accumulating 10 wins against a schedule that featured a slew of unimpressive opponents. Unfortunately, the loss seemed to cement the notion that some already had about the Hoosiers and put them in serious danger of being left out of the 12-team College Football Playoff despite potentially finishing the season at 11-1.
Don’t tell that to head coach Curt Cignetti. The brash first-year head coach hasn’t been afraid to speak his mind all season long and he didn’t have a problem standing behind his squad when asked if he thinks Hoosiers should be in the College Football Playoff despite the 23-point loss.
“Is that a serious question?” he asked back to the reporter. “I’m not even gonna answer that. The answer is so obvious.”
“Is that a serious question? I’m not even gonna answer that. The answer is so obvious…” – Indiana HC Curt Cignetti in his postgame presser on whether the Hoosiers belong in the CFP https://t.co/z4Rg7V1ozI
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 23, 2024
According to WISH News 8’s Angela Moryan, the reporter followed up, asking “So do you?” Cignetti then winked, nodded, and walked away from the podium.
Reporter: Should your team be among the 12 in the playoff?
Cignetti: I’m not even going to answer that. The answer is so obvious.
Reporter: So you do?
Cignetti: *winks, nods and walks off the podium*@WISHNews8 | #iufb
— Angela Moryan (@AngelaMoryanTV) November 23, 2024
That was a different tact than the one he took immediately after the game when he said that his focus is on next week’s game against the Purdue Boilermakers, not the CFP.
“I don’t make those decisions. It’s more important for me now that I focus on the next game. Big rival (Purdue). That needs to be everybody’s focus,” Cignetti said.
Curt Cignetti asked if his team deserves to make the playoffs: “I don’t make those decisions. It’s more important for me now that I focus on the next game. Big rival (Purdue). That needs to be everybody’s focus.”
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) November 23, 2024
Unfortunately for Cignetti and the Hoosiers, college football is the rare American sport where the pundits and people in charge tend to root against underdogs and upstarts like them. It’s all too likely that an 11-1 Indiana team could get left out of the expanded playoff in favor of a two- or even three-loss SEC squad. Of course, there’s still a lot of football to be played between now and the final selections.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.