No one in their wildest dreams ever thought that the Indiana Hoosiers were going to be all over the place before the 2024 season started. Now that they are entering the most intriguing game of their schedule against Ohio State, the Hoosiers have increased head coach Curt Cignetti‘s contract to $72 million, making him the highest-paid IU employee in history.

Although the Hoosiers are getting praised largely from the college football world, others also support the claim that they had an easy schedule. Now college football analyst Pat McAfee called out those trollers and pointed out a major issue. “I appreciate you pointing out the fact that other teams like Texas haven’t had like this, strongest schedule. And obviously, Penn State, they lose to Ohio State, and they come back and do their thing. Indiana is being judged differently. I legitimately appreciate you saying that because they are a team that’s popped up out of nowhere; literally, Cignetti just signed the biggest deal in college football.”

As per McAfee, no one is talking about teams like Texas and Penn State, who also had similar kinds of schedules. Now that Indiana and Curt Cignetti are doing great, why are they getting targeted because of their schedule? McAfee didn’t mince his words in calling out the standards of those critics.

As per the current buzz, Indiana is rolling with success because of certain reasons. Besides having an easy schedule, people are saying an unbalanced conference schedule is also another reason for their victories. With that, let’s look at all the reasons people are saying are responsible for Indiana’s power-packed performance this season.

How is the college football world reacting to Indiana & Curt Cignetti’s success?

The main reason given by the critics is Indiana facing weak opponents throughout the season. No doubt that Indiana has been able to come up with exemplary performance converting last season’s L to W. They stand 2nd in the B1G table and have a tough game up next against Ohio State this weekend.

Moreover, they say the structure of the conference schedule has become more unbalanced, leading to a few teams left with much tougher schedules while others are getting away with an easier one, and Indiana has benefitted from it. For one more reason, when Indiana started winning games against less competitive teams, it significantly boosted the squad’s confidence and resulted in better games.

One more theory says Indiana has done a great job at building its rosters. They took advantage of the transfer portal by bringing in 27 new players, among whom 13 followed Curt Cignetti after he joined the Hoosiers. Although all of it could have drowned in water if Curt Cignetti or his boys had not performed great. Nothing could have saved their season without their efforts. So there is nothing wrong with what Pat McAfee is saying about putting an end to these trolls.