Indiana coach Curt Cignetti takes shot at SEC

SEC teams view themselves as having the most competitive schedule in college football, but Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti seems to think it is a bit overrated.

Last week, Indiana announced that it has canceled its home-and-home series against Virginia, which was supposed to begin in 2027. The Hoosiers will instead play three home games against nonconference opponents — Kennesaw State in 2027, Austin Peay in 2028 and Eastern Illinois in 2029.

Cignetti was asked about the schedule change during Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday. He responded by taking a swipe at the SEC, which plays eight in-conference games while Big Ten teams play nine.

Cignetti also came prepared with data about the SEC’s schedule.

“Look, here’s the bottom line. We picked up an extra home game and we play nine conference games,” Cignetti said, via On3’s Nick Schultz. “The two best conferences in college football — any football guy that’s objective will tell you — (are) the Big Ten and the SEC. Twelve of the 16 SEC teams play three (Group of Five) or an FCS game. Twelve of those teams play 36 games – 29 (Group of Five) games and seven FCS games, and one less conference game.

“So we figured we’d just adopt (an) SEC scheduling philosophy. Some people don’t like it. I’m more focused in on those nine conference games.”

Many people feel the SEC should have expanded to a nine-game conference schedule when Texas and Oklahoma were added. For now, the eight-game schedule remains. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey recently defended the structure once again.

The Big Ten had a stronger overall showing than the SEC in the College Football Playoff last year, so Cignetti may feel that now is as good a time as any to throw jabs at his rival.

Cignetti led Indiana to its first College Football Playoff appearance in his first season last year. The Hoosiers lost 27-17 in the opening round.