Paul Finebaum says what CFB community has thought about Indiana, Curt Cignetti all along originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
ESPN commentator Paul Finebaum has finally come to a consensus about the Indiana Hoosiers shocking the college football world by completing the first-ever undefeated (16-0) season in modern college football history (concerning the College Football Playoff era).
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Finebaum said that while he is surprised by the Hoosiers’ sudden turnaround in only two seasons, it is undeniable that they have earned the respect of college football fans and media pundits alike.
“There will be some argument about this being the most improbable, greatest story in college football history,” Finebaum said on “The Matt Barrie Show.” “But I’m not sure there’ll be a lot [to argue] because it really is for all the things that have been said all year long, by me and others, watching it, watching the coronation on Monday night, really brought it all into focus.”
The “focus” Finebaum references is a direct contradiction of what he said last October, when he argued coach Curt Cignetti was perhaps a one-hit wonder hire who wouldn’t last long in Bloomington.
More: Curt Cignetti, Indiana built a national championship model for upstart programs to follow
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“It closed the circle,” Finebaum said after the game. “It sealed the deal. And it is really beyond words how breathtaking and gobsmacking it was to watch.”
The 27-21 win against the Miami Hurricanes saw Cignetti improve to 27-2 during his Hoosiers tenure thus far, as his two losses came against the Ohio State Buckeyes and Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the two teams who eventually played for the national title last January, with the Buckeyes coming away victorious.
Now the Big Ten maintains a bit of a stranglehold on college football. With the conference now laying claim to the last three national titles, it’s a safe argument to assume that the narrative’s overall shift around the sport has transitioned from what the SEC will do year-in-year-out to how the Big Ten will maintain its dominance.
Finebaum knows it, too. And now, the Hoosiers are the standard of modern, NIL-based college football excellence.
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More: Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, Curt Cignetti complete the greatest college football story ever told
It may take a bit of time to sink in, but it’s real. How long it will last, though, is anyone’s guess.
