The turnaround that Curt Cignetti has led the Indiana Football program through is nothing short of remarkable. The Hoosiers taking the college football world by storm is not something that anybody saw coming. Two years ago, Cignetti took over the program with the most losses in college football history. Since then, all he's done is win. Just Google him.
Cignetti is 27-2 over his two seasons in Bloomington and is coming off a perfect 16-0 season that culminated in one of the most impressive national titles the sport has ever seen. Heading into the 2026 season, the Hoosiers are primed to compete for another title. What a world!
Indiana Football vs. North Texas: How to watch, odds, and predictions
With kickoff for the season opener against North Texas just a few days away, now is the time to take a look at where Indiana stacks up in the National Championship odds. Oddsmakers have plenty of faith in Indiana's success to continue, but the odds boards have the Hoosiers facing a new kind of challenge.
Indiana among preseason favorites to win the National Championship
With odds of +900, Indiana has the 6th-shortest odds to win the National Championship on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Hoosiers trail Ohio State (+600), Notre Dame (+600), Texas (+650), Oregon (+750), and Georgia (+850). Other teams in the top-10 include Miami FL (+1000), LSU (+1700), Texas Tech (+2200), and Alabama (+2500). Two years ago, seeing the Hoosiers listed among those schools in a National Championship odds board would have been unthinkable. Now it is the new normal.
But with Indiana being in this new territory as the defending National Champions comes plenty of high expectations. That's not a position the IU football program has ever found itself in. Coming off such a dominating season, living up to lofty expectations presents plenty of challenges.
The hunter has become the hunted. Every team on Indiana's schedule will treat taking on the Hoosiers as their Super Bowl. The "haters" will be waiting for Indiana's first stumble. If it happens, the noise will only get even louder.
Cignetti and company are more than capable of handling all the pressures that come with such high expectations, but there's not denying that IU is in uncharted territory. While it's hard to get to the top of the college football mountaintop, it's even harder to stay there.
Indiana's 2026 preseason odds show the hard part isn’t winning it all––it’s doing it again
Cignetti has taken the Hoosiers from an afterthought to a national powerhouse in an extremely short amount of time. The college football world is still adjusting to seeing Indiana listed among the preseason National Championship contenders.
Heading into 2026, the argument can be made that the Hoosiers should have even shorter odds to win it all. They are the third Big Ten team listed in that market, and they trail two teams they beat during last year's historic CFP title run. However, professional oddsmakers know just how hard it is to repeat as National Champions in college football. Indiana's preseason National Championship odds reflect that.
The Hoosiers enter 2026 with one clear challenge: Proving the success of the last two years was just the start of a run, not a flash-in-the-pan breakthrough. With Cignetti leading the way, Hoosier fans have plenty of confidence in Indiana's staying power this season.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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