Hoosiers Daily News: Curt Cignetti takes aim at the SEC, ESPN

Indiana football is on a bye this week, but head coach Curt Cignetti is still in the headlines thanks to his weekly radio show.

Appearing alongside Voice of the Hoosiers Don Fischer at Yogi’s in downtown Bloomington, Cignetti was asked for his thoughts on the recently released first set of College Football Playoff rankings, which featured Indiana at No. 4, something that attracted plenty of criticism from the broader college football media.

And, well, he shared them.

“Come on,” Cignetti said with a laugh. “These people, and there’s a whole bunch of ‘em, they march out of the tent and they’re given instructions on what to say and they follow the company line, right? And I don’t need to go any further.”

“SEC gets a lot of love from ESPN, you know, and all their writers that they don’t technically pay but march to their drum. So, and that’s why you see all these SEC teams up there, you know, and some good two-loss teams from the Big Ten, not quite as high. But like I said, it’s all going to be played out on the field.”

Now, there’s a few caveats here. For one, this was Cignetti speaking to a local audience in Bloomington and the Indiana fanbase rather than a national one. The quote’s just gone viral, as usually happens with him. But it continues a trend for Cignetti of sticking up for the Big Ten whenever possible.

Here’s what else to know about the Hoosiers today:

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ICYMI on The Crimson Quarry

• Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover deserves some grace
• 3 takeaways from Indiana football’s initial CFP ranking
• Crimson Crank: Nitpicking Indiana’s 23-16 overtime win over Minnesota
• ESPN analyst Bill Connelly details Indiana football’s biggest flaw in 2026

Predicting Indiana men’s basketball vs Bellarmine

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What they’re saying about the Hoosiers

• AL.com: ESPN analyst rips College Football Playoff committee over Ohio State, Indiana rankings
• The Athletic:Indiana’s Curt Cignetti takes aim at CFP rankings: ‘SEC gets a lot of love from ESPN’
• The Indianapolis Star:Indiana football made a QB change vs. Minnesota. What comes next for Josh Hoover, Grant Wilson?
• The Herald-Times: Indiana women’s basketball forward Sydney Fenn makes emotional college debut

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