Paul Finebaum points out which Big Ten team struggled despite "ridiculously easy schedule" last season

The surprise of the Big Ten — and maybe even the entire country — this season was Curt Cignetti's Indiana. Behind the first-year Hoosiers head coach, the team went 11-2, reaching the College Football Playoff. ESPN's FPI rated Indiana's schedule 35th, though, as it only faced off with two ranked opponents.

SEC Network analyst and sports radio talk show host Paul Finebaum doesn't think what Cignetti and the Hoosiers did in the Big Ten this season was all that impressive.

"I just don't think Indiana proved a thing all year except having a ridiculously easy schedule," Finebaum said on his namesake radio show Friday. "I think the following teams would have beaten Indiana: Alabama, South Carolina, Ole Miss. Maybe could have gone deeper into the SEC, there were a couple that could have beaten them as well. I'm not talking about Tennessee, Georgia, or Texas. That's a foregone conclusion."

The Hoosiers beat only two teams that closed their schedules with a winning mark — Nebraska (7-6) and Michigan (8-5).

What should the Big Ten expect out of Indiana going forward?

Cignetti's comments when initially hired could have easily been brushed aside. Taking over for a Big Ten school that was known much more for its basketball program, he was brash in who he went after. It might have sounded silly at the time.

"Hey, look, I'm super fired up about this opportunity," Cignetti said when introduced at an Indiana basketball game in December 2023. "I've never taken a back seat to anybody and don't plan on starting now. Purdue sucks! But so does Michigan and Ohio State! Go IU!"

Having put a solid season in the bank, Cignetti will aim to build on that success when the Hoosiers hit the field next season. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke is moving on after six years on the college level. Indiana added now-former California passer Fernando Mendoza to replace him.

Adding talent is something that helped the Hoosiers remain in the running for a Big Ten crown late into the season. Oregon and Penn State wound up making it to Indianapolis, with the Ducks winning the conference.

"Indiana's rapid turnaround was powered by a transfer-heavy roster rebuild, with 30 newcomers joining the program via the transfer portal including 13 from James Madison, Cignetti's former school," ESPN's Max Olson wrote in December.

Of course, for a smaller school as Indiana, it might be difficult to repeat the success, but the upcoming season will provide a chance for the Hoosiers to prove that this one wasn't a fluke. If Cignetti can use the transfer portal in the same way he did last year, his program could be a real Big Ten contender in 2025.