Indiana's Curt Cignetti takes swipe at SEC amid questions around schedule

The Indiana Hoosiers finished 11-2 and made an appearance in the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history last season and are looking to build upon that success in 2025.

The Hoosiers start the season with Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State before Big Ten Conference play begins against Illinois on Sept. 20. However, the Hoosiers’ schedule was the topic of conversation during Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday.

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Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti speaks to the media during the Big Ten NCAA college football media days at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas on July 22, 2025. (Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images)

Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti talked about why the school canceled a home-and-home series against the Virginia Cavaliers and took a swipe at the SEC in the process.

"That was a scheduling philosophy that began before I was hired. But I did sign off on it upon being hired, before our first season," he said, via On3 Sports. "Look, here’s the bottom line – we picked up an extra home game, and we play nine conference games. 

"The two best conferences in college football – any football guy that’s objective will tell you – is the Big Ten and the SEC. Twelve of the 16 SEC teams play three G5 (Group of 5) or an FCS game. Twelve of those teams play 36 games – 29 G5 games and seven FCS games, and one less conference game. So we figured we’d just adopt SEC scheduling philosophy. Some people don’t like it. I’m more focused in on those nine conference games."

Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti looks on during the game against the Michigan Wolverines at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana, on Nov. 9, 2024. (Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)

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Cignetti continued to breakdown the scheduling in an effort to back Big Ten schools who may be worthy of an automatic qualifier for the expanded College Football Playoff.

"You want to put the best teams in the playoff? Give the best leagues the (automatic qualifiers), but make them earn it with play-in games," Cignetti added. "And we wouldn’t be opposed to Big Ten-SEC regular season games every year. 

"We need to standardize the schedule across the board if we want to have objective criteria for who should be in the playoffs and who shouldn’t, and we need to take the decision-making off the committee to some degree."

Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti walks towards the sideline after a timeout against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the fourth quarter during the football game in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

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The Hoosiers are set to take the field with Fernando Mendoza under center. Omar Cooper Jr., who had 21.2 yards per reception, is set to return as well.

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