Hardwood83

I get what you are saying, and agree the pieces are there. Both lines could be better, and the schedule is managable, not a bad place to start! Losing Mendoza is obviously the single biggest loss, but I am more worried about the Defense. Moore & Fischer leave huge voids, for their intangibles as much as their talent. True, the culture of winning and expectations are in place....at Indiana!

Bold statement! I expect a down-grade at QB, DB and maybe special teams. Gonna miss Fischer at LB too. Not sure about WR. Comparable to possibly better everywhere else. What are you thinking? Wild cards are injuries and how other teams emerge. Big question is how hungry will they be. Cig will do his thing, but human nature is what it is.

Cig is definitely a proponent of "get old & stay old"

17 games is dumb and the season is too long. The Super Bowl should be this week. But as with everything with sports now, more must be better.

His nicknme is "Waffle House" because he's always open.

Wow that seems like a long time ago! I was thinking 9-3 season at that point. That's why I don't bet.

Yep that and a dependable receiver too. I don't recall many dropped passes. Not typical to have a capable receiving/excellent blocking TE.

When the Cubs won, I was relieved- FINALLY. But this is so unexpected. IU football has been long-suffering, but not with close calls and 'shouldas' but with complete irrelevance and incompetence. I think this NC is like winning the lottery with a ticket you found on the street. Pure serendipity.

My nephew just sent me this- at the Kroger on College Mall Road:

Next Tues 1/27 on B1G network entire conference schedule released. OSU @ IU 10/17 has been confirmed so far.

Excellent, thanks. Couldn't help but notice there was a lot of 'LEO' in that clip!

You sir, have an exceptionally high pain tolerance....bordering on mental illness! I am so, So SO happy for fans like you. Soak this in, you richly deserve it, and I mean it sincerely. Longtime IU football fans should have this season injected right into their veins.

It's human nature, I suppose. There is a long way to go & lots unknown, etc, but right now next season looks liks a 4 game schedue: O$U & USC at home, @ Michigan & Washington. None are impossible and right now, 3-1 seems likely.

SI isn't a big deal anymore but still:

IU appears to already have a solid team for next year. But no matter what happens in the future, nothing will be like this season. You always remember your first! This team is so endearing and unexpected, it will be impossible to replicate. Not that I am against trying!

Oh man, their D line was ferocious. I was a little disappointed in how little pressure IU put on Beck. I know the gameplan was to contain and cover, but as we experienced, a great pass rush is so disruptive. I imagine a guy like Bain could name his price.

The portal gives and the portal takes away. IU has quite literally been the biggest beneficiary of this paradigm, but the easy come/easy go is still tough to take. Alberto will be a fantastic QB for GT or whoever.

Any longtime IU football fan that didn't have some emotions last night is a robot.

Saban got out before he was exposed once everyone else could pay their players. Plus he SUCKS at picking games! I know he picked Bama & Miami against IU. He should stick to micro-managing his AirBnb guests.

No idea what happened there, but you could see they were very talented.

Before last year I wrote that if Cignetti went 8-4 (in 2024) and won a bowl game, he should get a statue and lifetime contract. Now? He should get a statue bigger than the Statue of Liberty.

This is the greatest coaching job at any level, in history. Not even close. They should name the coach of the year award for him. He just did the impossible

Not sure if you guy heard:

I wouldn't mind an 'alternate' uniform game a year. Love the retro block I and the script Indiana and the Indiana flag symbol is cool too. Not a fan of the striped helmets. Also don't like constantly changing uniforms like Oregon does.

IU knocked Moore out of the NFL draft! We'll have to see where the rosters settle, but agree the conference is gonna be gauntlet again. Oregon might be better, O$U of course. Who know how all the new coaches come out of the gate, but gotta think the bottom of the conference (other then Purdoo of course) should be better. What is IU still looking for, I would assum line depth on either side of the ball, more DB depth?