What we are experiencing now when it comes to Indiana football is likely here to stay. Indiana University has historically been a basketball school, but the football program has its rough equivalent of Bob Knight at the helm of it in Curt Cignetti. He has been transformative in getting Indiana football turned around. The program is night and day from the middling one Tom Allen fielded for it in the end.
Although it does not perfectly line up, an influx of money from Indiana alum and billionaire business mogul Mark Cuban has certainly helped. While the prominent face from Shark Tank and the former owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks has donated to IU many times over the years, it was not until December of last year that he donated strictly to the athletic department. It is paying out big time.
In a feature with Front Office Sports, Cuban has mentioned that he does not care where athletic director Scott Dolson allocates his financial contributions, but trusts him to do the right thing. This influx of capital has helped Indiana go from a historic bottom-feeder in college football, to a team that is only two victories away from winning its first national championship to date on the football gridiron.
This is proof that when you have the right alignment, big-pocketed boosters will come in graciously.
Mark Cuban has played an integral role in helping finance Indiana sports
There is no way around it. We are in the midst of a truly unprecedented time in college football. Whether it be playoff expansion, the latest machinations of the transfer portal, or the wonderful world of NIL, the game is changing. Certain barriers that had been forged over the course of history are no longer there. As long as you compete in the Power Four, you have a shot at contending for the playoff.
What has transpired with Indiana is a greater level of focus than we have ever seen on the football field. In years past, what Tom Allen was doing would have been more than good enough. Occasionally getting to a bowl game was the status quo for IU football. Now under Cignetti, wins are expected and losses are increasingly hard to come by. In two years, Indiana went from bad to championship-caliber.
The fact big-pocketed boosters like Cuban are all-in on this team and this athletic program makes people like Cignetti and Dolson's job even easier now. Yes, they have to continue to put in the work, but they are being given financial tailwinds, as opposed to the never-ending joyless slog of having to overcome bad history. The tides are turning. Indiana is the favorite to win this year's national title now.
No matter what happens in the Peach Bowl Friday, Indiana is firmly a titan in the college football world.