Indiana had the most magical 2024 season under Curt Cignetti in his first year with the Hoosiers. A lot of people said it was a fluke or that they didn't have tough enough competition and that they didn't deserve to be in the College Football Playoff.
However, depending on the results of the Quarterfinal in the College Football Playoff, the two teams that could be in the championship, Notre Dame and Ohio State, would be the only two teams the Hoosiers lost to this season. So basically, nobody is giving Indiana the credit they deserve, so they will need to go out and get it again themselves.
The Hoosiers are losing a lot of key players this season, like quarterback Kurtis Rourke and running backs Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton, but Cignetti built the 2024 roster through the transfer portal, and he can do the same in 2025.
Cignetti has already done a great job bringing in players to fill the holes on the Hoosiers 2025 roster. Most notable, he brought in the No. 3 ranked quarterback in the transfer portal Fernando Mendoza from Cal, who still has two years of eligibility left and has his mind set on growing for the NFL.
Cignetti isn't necessarily looking for the most sought-after players in the portal but the players that are going to produce for his team. That is why he has brought in players like Mendoza, Makai Jackson, Lee Beebe Jr., and Roman Hemby.
So far, Cignetti has brought in 17 players from the portal, and only nine of them come from power conferences, while the rest come from smaller Group of Five programs. In 2024, Cignetti was able to bring over a lot of guys from his previous school, James Madison, but the success that he was able to have with the Hoosiers in 2024 is the reason he has been able to bring in players from so many different programs in 2025.
If the Hoosiers want to be looked at as a top team in college football for seasons to come, they have to prove that 2024 wasn't a fluke and that the Hoosiers can have continued success going forward.