#indiana-hoosiers

#indiana-hoosiers

It's going to be a tough, gritty match-up and I think it might snow over there, which would be really interesting, Mendoza said. I just can't wait to get a bite at the rivalry, just to be able to experience it, to play in it against such a great team. It's just such an honor to play Purdue and to see the Purdue rivalry in basketball and really just see how the alumni harp on it.

At the midpoint of the season, no team has made a bigger playoff statement than Indiana. They tried to reassert themselves with a historic 63-10 beatdown of Illinois, but the Illini aren't Ohio State or Oregon. And then the Hoosiers beat Oregon -- by double digits -- in Autzen Stadium, where the Ducks hadn't lost in 18 straight games. Indiana forced Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback Dante Moore into two interceptions and sacked him six times.

Especially to those who questioned whether the 2024 Hoosiers belonged in the College Football Playoff, despite the dominance displayed for most of the season. "[The media] controls all that stuff, I just got to get them ready and then we all play our games and see what shakes out at the end of the year," Cignetti said diplomatically.