Finally, FINALLY, in his 11th season coaching the Army West Point 2024, HC Jeff Monken can be happy. All kudos to the Black Knights for avoiding a potential end to its national playoff dreams. But on the flip side, as they get a moment to celebrate their success in the AP Top 25 Poll, Curt Cignetti’s Indiana Hoosiers were “disrespected” with their rankings. The haters thought that it was a smooth ride for them to land in the rankings. That’s when the well-known CFB analyst had to pitch to expose the reality. However, Cignetti did not wait for his backup and had already given the pep talk to the Indiana boys to keep their eyes on the big goal. 

As per the latest poll updates, the Hoosiers landed the No.8 rank. Well, that’s something that can upset Cignetti. After all, Indiana is 9-0 and has yet to notch a win over a ranked opponent. That being said, the ESPN College podcast discussed Indiana’s ranking in the light of Monken’s Black Knights. That’s because the Army is much below the Hoosiers in the chart yet the word ‘disrespected’ seems not to be there in their syllabus. The co-host Joey Galloway thus challenged Cignetti’s tribe, “Indiana is not disrespected in this they are now on this bracket so they are not disrespected but Boo (Booger McFarland) to your point. Why is Army not having the same argument? Why is Army doesn’t feel disrespected?”

Monken’s squad made history by landing on the list but at No. 25. With this, the Black Knights are already hopeful, making it a tall order to make the national playoffs. While the Army HC is proud of it, what makes Cignetti’s squad disrespected? People thought that it was a cakewalk for them. There Rece Davis stood in the Hoosier’s defense, “I would still say that even Indiana’s schedule they’ played some midling teams in the Big 10 they faced the higher level of competition than Army has faced at this point.” Well, even before Davis, it was Joel Klatt who got upset with the rankings and dished out an ugly remark on the poll.   

On his podcast, Klatt hinted at how Indiana’s poor history filled with losses in the past three seasons influenced the rankings in some way. “If they had any other logo on the side of their helmet, they’d be No. 2 or No. 3 in the country at a minimum. This is why our AP Poll process is so stupid,” stated the analyst. It looks like Cignetti had already turned dead ears to controversy. 

Curt Cignetti’s winning mantra for the Hoosiers

In Cignetti’s playbook, distraction is a BIG NO-NO. Like the HC has marked himself safe by not getting too carried away by the rankings, he also wants his team to do what’s crucial at the moment, keep honing their skills. And what’s the message the HC had for the Hoosiers? “I’ll see the rankings but the one thing that really matters is that you get the result on when you play. And to do that you got to keep the main thing and eliminate the noise and the clutter.” However, Cignetti did not develop this mental strength in one go.

After all, Indiana has flat-out buried teams. As the numbers say, since their week 7 bye week, they have allowed a total of 10 points in the second half. And no brownie points for guessing from whom they inherited the ability to wear a team down over 60 minutes. Has to be their fav mentor!

“That’s what we preach. Never being satisfied… regardless of what the score is… the standard is the standard,” shared Curt Cignetti about the motto he abides by. So it’s evident that in Indiana everything starts with the man in charge. And how could you doubt a program that’s headed by someone as perfectionist as Cignetti, who will accept nothing less than elite execution?