From Doubted to Decorated: Indiana Football Headed to the College Football Playoff

Written by: Nate Comp (@NathanComp1)

It is all a bit surreal, when you take a step back and think about it.

Curt Cignetti and his Indiana Hoosiers program are headed to the College Football Playoff, one of just 12 teams left in the sport with a chance at winning the national title. One could say it was always possible; it just took the right person to awake the sleeping giant. But in actuality, it has felt for a long time now that the giant may be far past just sleeping. Perhaps, it was hibernating. Maybe even on life support.

But it has awoken. And the members of its team have no plans of stopping at just making the Playoff. They plan for much more. And have planned this since the season started.

“Everybody had that belief no matter what,” said linebacker Aiden Fisher. “Spring ball a lot of faces weren't here... Once we got back in fall camp and everybody was rolling together, I think we all had the sense that this could be a special team."

"We had one goal, and the goal was to win and to be able to go into the College Football Playoffs,” added fellow linebacker Jailin Walker. “Like I said, summer workouts and spring workouts we knew we had this one goal."

The road was far from easy. Do not let the ‘schedule merchant’ or ‘James Madison West’ comments change your perspective – this was a team, when fully constructed and fully aware of the schedule they would face – that many predicted to finish at the bottom of the Big Ten. Even their own fans doubted this level of success at the beginning of the season. In a year in which Curt Cignetti began the season pleading for fans to leave the tailgating lots and attend the games, the Hoosiers are now playing on one of the most highly anticipated stages in college football, with tickets to their game commanding top prices in the CFP First Round.

“Everybody noticed the crowd changed since the first game, but even around campus things are a lot different,” said cornerback D’Angelo Ponds. “People walk up to me around campus and stuff like that. That wasn't happening in the first couple weeks. So that changed a lot.”

This newfound attention on the program isn’t just a product of their success, but the reflection of their journey and resilience.

“There wasn't like a lot of involvement with football,” added Walker. “Since we been winning, you can see the fans and students, they will come talk to you on campus. It feels great to see that we can change a program like Indiana, and like I said, we're just getting started. We've got a long road for Indiana.”

Of course, that long road has included bumps along the way. The Hoosiers got punched in the mouth in their game against the Buckeyes in November. But they believe that has made them a stronger unit overall.

“There were a lot of distractions going into that game, a big game with a hostile crowd, and it's just something that we have to learn to manage and handle,” added Fisher. “Going into this game, it's no different than the Ohio State game. It's a big game, one with obvious, huge, implications, but at the end of the day it's just another game we have to prep for like we did the past 12 games. We've had three weeks to clean things up and shore up, so we'll learn that lesson and put it to use Friday.”

Now, the message goes back to the message that has been around the entire season – proving that the Hoosiers belong.

“Going forward, it's big, especially us proving ourselves,” defensive lineman Mikail Kamara added. “Every single scout, every single beat writer that said that our D-Line is not the best D-Line in the country. Just continue to prove it and prove it against Notre Dame and then go out there and play against an SEC team and show it on every single level. That's something I'm excited about.”

With the College Football Playoff now on the horizon, the Hoosiers will face a tough test against Notre Dame, beginning Friday night at 8:00 EST on ABC/ESPN. But as they've shown all season, they’re ready to prove they belong on the biggest stage.