At his Big Ten media day press conference in July, Curt Cignetti boasted about his first season being the best in 127 years of Indiana University football.
Even after reaching the College Football Playoff, Indiana still faced doubt about whether Cignetti was building something sustainable in Bloomington.
Across those 127 mostly putrid seasons, Indiana had never beaten a top-five team on the road — the longest such drought in college football history. Entering Saturday’s heavyweight matchup, the Hoosiers had played 46 road games against AP top-five teams. All 46 ended in losses.
With the best team in program history on the field, Cignetti and No.