This Indiana stat proves that Curt Cignetti is changing college football recruiting

Recruiting is such a big part of college sports, especially college football. The media is always paying attention to which schools are signing the four and five-star recruits, as those guys are expected to be the top of their recruiting class and are supposed to bring the most talent to a program.

Well, if you ask Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti what he thinks about high school recruit ratings, he may not care all that much. When it comes to player ratings, Cignetti has proven that it doesn't matter if you are a five-star or not; all that matters is hard work coupled with talent and the right kind of coaching.

ESPN released a stat showing that Indiana does not have one five-star player on its roster. This is pretty different from the other teams still in the College Football Playoff who have at least, if not more, five-star players.

The Hoosiers are the one-seed in the College Football Playoff, and they don't have a single five-star player, proving that ratings don't matter all that much. Coming out of high school, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza was rated as a three-star quarterback by 247Sports ratings and a two-star quarterback by 247Sports Composite ratings.

Mendoza, now in his final season, is a Heisman Trophy winner and two games away from hoisting a National Championship trophy with Indiana. Cignetti's team actually calls themselves a bunch of misfits that have come together to play football.

Just because a player isn't the highest-rated guy doesn't mean he isn't a talented player who will work and play hard. Cignetti is proving that college football teams don't have the highest-ranked recruiting classes to be able to compete.

At this point, it feels like Cignetti and Indiana are changing a lot of things about college football, and honestly, it is pretty refreshing.