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By Matt Audilet
Contributing Sports Writer
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Curt Cignetti and the Indiana Hoosiers completed their flawless 16-0 campaign on Monday night, defeating the Miami Hurricanes and claiming the program's first national championship title.
Since his arrival in Bloomington before the 2024 college football season, Cignetti has amassed a 27-2 overall record.
After a 6-0 start to the 2025 season and a victory over the then-No. 3 ranked Oregon Ducks, ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum was asked if Indiana made the right move by signing Cignetti on a new eight-year deal worth $93 million.
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"They did not... This is how programs get in trouble. They just gave him an extension and a contract raise at the end of last season. We are barely at the midpoint [in 2025]. Let it play out before you completely send the Brinks truck up," Finebaum said. "...I'm still not convinced that Curt Cignetti is one of the top coaches in America."
LSU head coach Lane Kiffin directly called out Finebaum for this freezing cold take after Indiana's national championship victory.
"Paul ……" Kiffin wrote on X.
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Finebaum is "gobsmacked" by the fact that Cignetti and Indiana were able to run the table and win this year's national title.
“There will be some argument about this being the most improbable, greatest story in college football history,” Finebaum said on Tuesday. “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."
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“It closed the circle," Finebaum added. "It sealed the deal. And it is really beyond words how breathtaking and gobsmacking it was to watch.”
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