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Curt Cignetti wasn’t going to take Friday night’s College Football Playoff semifinal victory for granted.
For the first time in school history, the Indiana Hoosiers will play for a national title after beating Oregon 56-22 in the Peach Bowl.
Finally, the Hoosiers will sit down and watch film at No. 10 Miami, which has had a Cinderella run to take on the top-ranked, 15-0 Hoosiers.
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Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti hoists the George P. Crumbley Trophy after defeating the Oregon Ducks in the 2025 College Football Playoff semifinals in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 9, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
But Cignetti had one thing on his mind as the Hoosiers celebrated at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
ESPN’s Molly McGrath asked Cignetti when he would “stop and appreciate how special and how historic all of this has been,” given that Cignetti was already “thinking about the next game.”
However, Cigetti corrected her.
“I’m not thinking about the next game. I’m thinking about opening a beer,” he admitted.
The Hoosiers became the fifth team in modern college football history to go 15-0. Now they can become the first team in the modern era to go 16-0 and only the second all-time, joining an 1894 Yale team that played with leather helmets.
Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti looks on before the 2025 Big Ten Championship game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Lucas Oil Stadium on Dec. 6, 2025. (Robert Goddin/Imagn Images)
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Cignetti has left the college football world with a dramatic turnaround of the Hoosiers program, going from one of the losing teams in the Big Ten to potentially the most dominant single season ever.
After their undefeated regular season, the Hoosiers have only gained momentum in the CFP. After defeating Ohio State for the Big Ten championship, Indiana overwhelmed Alabama 38-3 in the Rose Bowl quarterfinals as Fernando Mendoza passed for 192 yards and three touchdowns.
Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti walks toward the sideline after a time out against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the fourth quarter during the football game in Columbus, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Indiana will try to give the Big Ten its third straight national title, following Ohio State and Michigan the past two seasons. Few teams from any conference can match the Hoosiers’ season-long display of balanced, strong play.
