Indiana enters the 2026 season as the reigning national champion. Yet somehow, the Hoosiers still can’t shake the underdog tag. The preseason AP Poll dropped them at No. 6, and that decision is already stirring up debate.
Former NFL scout John Middlekauff isn’t buying it. On his “3 and Out” podcast, he made the case that Curt Cignetti’s side should be sitting at No. 1, not No. 6, given everything the program just pulled off.
John Middlekauff Makes the Case for Curt Cignetti’s Indiana After AP Poll Ranking
Indiana, which ranked higher in PFSN’s College Football Power Rankings, went from a struggling program to Big Ten champion to national champion in the span of two seasons.
Cignetti walked into Bloomington in 2024 and immediately led the program to a solid 11-2 campaign. Then in 2025, he did something no one saw coming. A perfect 16-0 season. A Big Ten title. A win over Ohio State. And finally, a national championship over Miami.
“My point is, Indiana not being at one based on the last two seasons and based on the way just these work, I think we have to agree is a pretty easy one for Cignetti to have both middle fingers up,” Middlekauff said, implying the poll says more about the voters than it does about the Hoosiers.
“There is no one beside Indiana that would have had their back-to-back seasons of making the playoffs kind of out of nowhere and then winning the national championship would not have been one,” he also said.
Middlekauff pointed to what’s happening around the rest of the sport as proof that Indiana’s path forward looks just as smooth as anyone else’s.
“More than likely Ohio State’s playing in the Big Ten Championship. More than likely Oregon is either in the Big Ten Championship game or a game out,” he said, suggesting both of Indiana’s top competitors are already projected right back into the mix.
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Then there’s the coaching turnover happening elsewhere. Middlekauff brought up how Oregon lost both its offensive and defensive coordinators this offseason.
Ohio State lost its own offensive coordinator, too, replacing him with Arthur Smith, who Middlekauff noted has mostly been away from the college game, working in the NFL for over a decade.
Meanwhile, Indiana’s staff and system stayed largely intact. For Middlekauff, that continuity should count for something.
Replacing Fernando Mendoza will be one of Indiana’s biggest challenges this season. The Heisman Trophy winner is now an NFL player, while all five teams ranked ahead of the Hoosiers in the AP Poll boast returning quarterbacks.
Still, Indiana has reason to believe Cignetti can find a solution after turning around a program that went 3-9 the year before his arrival. Middlekauff certainly sees it that way.
