It was over. They did it. The underdog stood on top. Mission complete.
Heading into the 2023 season, Indiana owned the losingest football program in FBS history - not by opinion or perception, but by numbers. Over 138 years, the Hoosiers had lost 712 games, the most of any college in Division I. They had won just one Big Ten title, and it came 80 years earlier.
Indiana was a basketball school, defined by grit and glory on the hardwood. Assembly Hall sold out nearly every weekend, while Memorial Stadium struggled to fill its seats. Morale was low. Facilities were deteriorating. The coaching staff couldn’t find consistent success with the players on the roster.
In November 2023, Indiana completed yet another losing season after going 3-9. Losing had become the standard. Nobody could figure out how to win football games in Bloomington. Indiana desperately needed a change. So, the school hired Cignetti from James Madison University - the same school that became such a success story of their own after Cignetti led them from an FCS program (Division 1-AA) to an FBS one (Division 1-A).
And he immediately began writing one of the best sports stories the world has ever seen.
"I win. Google me," said Cignetti at his introductory press conference as the Hoosiers head coach. His words became iconic, but it is fair to say that not many experts initially believed him. It was easy to accept that Indiana would never be good at football. It will never be a football school. But Cignetti didn’t come to be mediocre.
"I know Indiana's football history has been pretty poor with some good years sprinkled in there," said Cignetti. “It was because there wasn't an emphasis on football, plain and simple. It's a basketball school. Coach (Bob) Knight had great teams. The emphasis is on football. It's on basketball, too. But you've got to be good at football nowadays. ... We've got a fan base, the largest alumni base in the country, Indiana University. They're all-in. We've got a lot of momentum."
Cignetti didn’t waste any time. He immediately flipped the culture and recruited the right players through the transfer portal who fit his football narrative. The team didn’t boast highly recruited high schoolers. The roster lacked individuals praised for their talents in the media. No five-star recruits. And only two four-stars were starters - wide receivers Omar Cooper Jr. and E.J. Williams Jr.
All their other starters were either three-star recruits or lower.
No projected NFL draft picks. Instead, it was built with transfers from outside the Power Four—players other programs overlooked. On paper, it was the least talented roster in the country. In Cignetti’s mind, it was championship-caliber. No stars? No problem. That was how Indiana shattered the talent metric.
A fluke. Just got lucky. Unsustainable. The Hoosiers heard it all - even after going 11-2 in Cignetti’s inaugural season, skepticism lingered. Indiana reached the playoffs but lost to Notre Dame in the first round. Some thought the success wouldn’t last. It never did in the past. But what others thought was the end of the Hoosiers' historic ride was only the beginning.
Before that season ended, Indiana announced the signing of a new quarterback transfer from Cal - Fernando Mendoza. Overlooked out of high school and barely recruited, Mendoza was another player Cignetti believed in when others didn’t. He coached him relentlessly. Mendoza listened, worked, and stayed unapologetically himself. These two couldn’t be more different – Cignetti’s always serious face intimidated everyone, while Mendoza’s ever-present smile and optimism melted people’s hearts.
In his lone season in the Indiana uniform, Mendoza threw for 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns, and only six interceptions, accounting for 39 touchdowns without a single pick in the red zone over the last two years.
He led the Hoosiers to their third-ever undefeated regular season and won the coveted Heisman Trophy. Indiana entered the CFP as the top-ranked team in the country.
Their preseason odds to win the national title? 100 to 1. That quickly changed over time as the team kept winning and climbing in the rankings.
Before this season, Indiana only had three bowl wins in program history. They earned three more in three weeks. Cignetti’s squad held Alabama to just three points in the Rose Bowl. Dismantled Oregon 56-22 in the Peach Bowl and punched their ticket to the national championship. On their way to the perfect season was the University of Miami. The game was played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens—down the street from campus.
A home game for the Hurricanes. But Miami wasn’t the only team with a homecoming. So did Mendoza. After being born in Boston, Massachusetts, Mendoza was raised in Miami, and he wanted to walk on for their team. The coaching staff denied the opportunity.
With 9:27 left in the game, the teams were neck-to-neck. The Hoosiers were up 17-14 but faced a critical fourth-and-five 12 yards away from the end zone. Miami started to feel the chance to shift the momentum to their side and gain the lead on their next drive.
Indiana sent their kicking unit on the field.
Suddenly, Cignetti changed his mind and yelled for the kicking unit to get off the field. His bold call produced one of the most clutch touchdowns in college football history. Mendoza took the snap, burst up the middle, broke multiple tackles, and dove into the end zone. Touchdown, Indiana. The stadium erupted. The football world went wild. It was something special.
"Fernando, I know he’s great in interviews and comes off as the All-American guy, but he has the heart of a lion when it comes to competition,” Cignetti said. “That guy competes like a warrior. Can’t say enough about his effort on that play and our team finding a way to get it done."
The Hoosiers won the game 27-21 and completed their perfect season. “We’re 16-0, national champions at Indiana University, which I know a lot of people thought was never possible,” Cignetti said after the game. “It probably is one of the greatest sports stories of all time.”
Probably? Without a doubt.
Movies have told underdog stories before—Miracle, Rocky, Hoosiers. All scripted. Indiana wrote their own incredible story on how the worst program in FBS history ended up standing atop the sports world. It all started with Curt Cignetti, and he only needed two seasons to complete the seemingly impossible, most improbable turnaround college football has ever seen.