Curt Cignetti calls out SEC teams amid criticism of Indiana's strength of schedule

During his introductory press conference, Curt Cignetti famously challenged any Indiana fan that didn’t know about him or questioned his hiring to simply “Google me.”

The bombastic first-year Hoosiers head coach echoed that same bravado Wednesday in response to a question about outside criticisms of Indiana’s 106th strength of schedule — according to ESPN’s FPI resume rankings — especially as it relates to the Hoosiers’ Top 5 College Football Playoff ranking.

“Do your research,” Cignetti said Wednesday on The Triple Option podcast. “Google us … so you know something about us besides our name and what we’ve done in the past, and what somebody else says about our schedule.”

Indiana’s (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten) Cinderella run in the first season under Cignetti has been one of the best stories of the 2024 college football season, but it hasn’t come without its detractors, especially from within the footprint of the Southeastern Conference. That has only intensified the last several weeks as the undefeated Hoosiers continue to climb the Playoff rankings ahead of Saturday’s prove-it game vs. No. 2 Ohio State in Columbus.

“If Indiana has a great game Saturday, good for them,” SEC Network host Paul Finebaum said Wednesday morning on ESPN’s Get Up, “but I don’t think they will and they should not be where they are based on their schedule so far because they have beaten no one so far.”

So far this season, Indiana hasn’t played a single opponent currently ranked in the Top 30 nationally, according to the Sagarin rankings. Meanwhile, two-loss SEC teams like Alabama, Ole Miss, Georgia and Tennessee — ranked 7th, 9th, 10th and 11th, respectively, this week — have at least one Top 25 win, if not multiple, and a strength of schedules ranking of first (Georgia), 16th (Alabama), 18th (Tennessee) and 29th (Ole Miss).

Curt Cignetti points out Alabama, Georgia played FCS teams

Of course, Cignetti isn’t concerned with those analytics, and took direct aim at his SEC critics.

“You know these schedules are set years in advance. And I mean, Alabama played Mercer, Georgia played Chattanooga, right? Vanderbilt played Georgia State but lost,” Cignetti said. “I mean, the schedule is what it is, and the fact of the matter is we’ve beaten seven P4 teams. … We also beat the defending national champ (Michigan) and runner up (Washington).

“And, for the most part, except for the Michigan game, which we didn’t play very well in the second half, every game has been a decisive victory. We didn’t trail until two weeks ago. We were behind at Michigan State 10-0 in the first quarter and then rattled off 47 straight. You know?”

Former Alabama running back and FOX Sports analyst Mark Ingram cheered Cignetti on: “Tell ’em, Coach.”

Analytics aside, Cignetti and Indiana can quiet the outside criticisms with a win Saturday over the Buckeyes, not only notching its first Top 25 victory but locking up a spot in the upcoming Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis against top-ranked Oregon. It’s why Cignetti is doing his best to ignore “the noise” and focus on what’s ahead on the schedule.

“It’s all going to be played out on the field,” Cignetti said. “So obviously we have a game this week (Ohio State) and a game next week, and most people have 2-3 games left, and then there’s conference championship games. It is what it is. I ask our team to kind off eliminate the noise and the clutter, control the controlables, focus on what’s going to help them be the best on Saturday, so I have to do the same thing.”