The College Football Playoff is having a dramatic effect. Like a fire hose to a burning house.
We witnessed a resilient Mississippi team shame their former head coach, the scandalous Lane Kiffin; a humbling of the SEC, a conference that gobbled up nearly half the playoff berths only to be exposed as arrogant and overrated; and the return of “The U,” a Miami program that has awakened the ghosts and all its former legends.
None of that compares to what’s happening with Curt Cignetti, Fernando Mendoza and the most improbable brand overhaul in the annals of the sport.
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Granted, overreactions have become overkill. There are too many attempts at microwaved history and instant debates over newly crowned champions and their place in the pantheon of legends.
But if Indiana wins a national championship, it will be the greatest story ever told in college football.
“I’m from Indiana,” Grand Canyon basketball coach Bryce Drew said. “And a new generation of fans are going to know Indiana as a football school and not a basketball school. That is just wild to me.”
At age 64, Cignetti has risen from obscurity to the throne. He is the new big boss of college football. He is backing up an audacious proclamation made at his debut press conference – “It’s pretty simple. I win. Google me.”
Cignetti’s team is spectacularly well-coached. The Hoosiers haven’t lost a fumble since the 18th play of the season. Their receivers never drop passes. Their annihilation of elite competition is jaw-dropping, while their immaculate execution has created a brand of football that is both art and carnage. Normally, we complain about blowouts and lopsided losses in the CFP. With Indiana, it’s part of the fun and part of the mythology and crucial to the narrative.
Meanwhile, Mendoza has developed into a killer with great manners, a kid who smiles wide and quotes Stoic philosophy during press conferences, so grateful for Cignetti that he’s leaving his Heisman Trophy on display at Indiana. You can’t write these kinds of stories.
In a way, Cignetti has trumped and overshadowed the rise of Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham, whose 2024 Sun Devils defied the odds, and their Big 12 championship ranked among the top-six upsets in sports betting history. Let’s hope Cignetti and Dillingham become the new stars of the sport, the new version of Nick Saban and Kirby Smart.
But Cignetti has also proven that it’s a new era in college football. If you have the right head coach and enough money to spend, you can compete for a championship. It’s comforting to know that ASU is already on the doorstep, having successfully retained Dillingham for the near future.
For all the madness in college athletics, it’s refreshing to see Indiana football prove it’s everybody’s game now, and that anything is possible. Because that might be us someday soon.
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7.
Follow @danbickley
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