Curt Cignetti defends Big Ten as the best league: "We don't run a hype machine up here in the midwest"

Curt Cignetti drew the final speaking slot at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago on Thursday, and the defending national champion used it to plant a flag for his league.

Asked whether the grind of a nine-game Big Ten schedule is a net positive or a net negative by the time the playoff rolls around, Cignetti didn't hedge.

"The Big Ten is the best league in football, and a lot of really good football teams," Cignetti said. "It's hard to win on the road, very physical football teams, very well coached. It definitely prepares you for the playoffs. There's no doubt about it. The numbers speak for themselves. We don't run a hype machine up here in the Midwest. We believe everything's earned, not given. When we fall short, we say we fell short. We don't cry a river, whine and complain. That's why we're the best."

It's the kind of soundbite Cignetti has made his signature since arriving in Bloomington. This is the same coach who told the room "I win, Google me" at his introductory press conference in December 2023, then went out and backed it up and also delivered an absolute gem to the IU basketball crowd a bit later with "Purdue sucks! So does Michigan and Ohio State!"

He has earned the right to talk. In his first season at Indiana in 2024, Cignetti took a program that owned the most losses in college football history and went 11-1 with the school's first College Football Playoff appearance. Last fall he went further, running the table at 16-0, winning Indiana's first Big Ten title since 1967 and its first national championship with a 27-21 win over Miami. Along the way the Hoosiers beat six top-10 teams, including a road win over Oregon, and Cignetti became the first coach to win back-to-back Walter Camp FBS Coach of the Year honors.

His path to that podium didn't start in a power league. Cignetti spent 2007 to 2010 on Nick Saban's Alabama staff, part of the 2009 national title team, before head coaching stops at IUP (53-17), Elon (14-9) and James Madison (52-9). He won at every one of them. That track record has been the secret sauce that makes the swagger land in his own unique way.

The "hype machine" line reads as another shot in the Big Ten's ongoing tug-of-war with the SEC over scheduling and playoff format, a fight that ran through all three days in Chicago. A year ago at these same media days, Cignetti needled the SEC by joking that Indiana would "adopt SEC scheduling philosophy" after buying its way out of a home-and-home with Virginia.

For all the confidence, Cignetti spent most of his session preaching development and consistency over results. He noted Indiana comes back to camp with 17 new transfers and a new quarterback in TCU transfer Josh Hoover, who replaces Fernando Mendoza. Year three in Bloomington starts with the target squarely on the Hoosiers' backs, and their coach clearly has no plans to lower the volume and adds that he plans to "stalk complacency" - which is totally on brand for someone who spent time under the great Nick Saban.

Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.