Curt Cignetti and No. 1 Indiana capped off a truly historic 16-0 season in 2025 by winning Monday night’s 2026 College Football Playoff national championship with a 27-21 victory over No. 2 Miami inside a crimson-laden Hard Rock Stadium.
After enjoying a celebratory beer, Cignetti took the opportunity to dispel an overplayed narrative about the Hoosiers’ NIL budget this season during his opening statement in the postgame press conference.
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“I would like to say that our NIL is nowhere near where people think it is, So you can throw that (narrative) out,” Cignetti said in his opening statement Monday night. “This team really overcame a lot on the road, in a lot of tight games and found a way to get it done. We’re 16-0 and I guess we’re 27-2 at Indiana, but we’re 16-0 (and) national champions at Indiana University, which I know a lot of people thought was never possible.
“It’s probably one of the greatest sports stories of all time. But it’s all because of these (players) and the staff. So I’m proud of them, and it’s a great night.”
And he’s not wrong, least of all about Indiana‘s NIL budget. Last year’s CFP champion Ohio State had a NIL budget around $35 million in 2025, while the national runner-up Hurricanes were in the $30 million range, according to On3’s Pete Nakos. Meanwhile, Texas Tech — last season’s big winner in the transfer portal — had a NIL budget of over $28 million, per Nakos.
Mark Cuban on Curt Cignetti’s NIL approach: ‘He doesn’t get into bidding wars’
In reality, Nakos reported the Hoosiers’ NIL budget was “just under $20 million” for its 2025 roster. And that’s with the support of its own billionaire booster in “Shark Tank” entreprenuer Mark Cuban.
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“He doesn’t look for the most hyped players,” Cuban told Nakos of Cignetti’s NIL philosphy. “He doesn’t get into bidding wars. He focuses on players who will know their role, have the right mental focus and produce.”
Of course, Cignetti and the Hoosiers proved even in the day and age of NIL and the transfer portal, college football teams can still do more with less — at least as it pertains to NIL. Utilizing low-cost transfers from Cignetti’s former James Madison program, as well as other under-recruited talents like 2025 Heisman Trophy winning QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana secured the Big Ten’s third consecutive national championship with college football’s first perfect 16-0 season since the turn of the last century (1894 Yale also went 16-0, though under much different circumstances).
