Surprising Big Ten Power Ranked Among Teams Facing the Most Pressure in 2026

Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti during spring practice. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Indiana Hoosiers are coming off the two best seasons in program history under head coach Curt Cignetti.

Cignetti took over before the 2024 season and has since led the team to 11-2 and 16-0 records. The only two double-digit win seasons in the program's history. The 16-0 season resulted in the program's first national championship, and quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the school's first Heisman Trophy.

This comes from a historically bad program with an all-time losing record. That's why it comes as a surprise that college football analyst Brooks Austin had the Hoosiers ranked No. 10 on his list of teams facing the most pressure in 2026.

Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti during spring practice. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"I think there's pressure for Indiana to at least, from an outside perspective, to continuously prove that this is a real thing," Austin said on 'The Film Guy Network.'

"If they pull a 9-3 this year, if they pull an 8-4 for some random reason, people are going to call it a fluke and like a flash in the pan... I think there is pressure to maintain the standard, the new standard at Indiana.... So, let's go Indiana right here at 10."

Now, Austin, who does a great job breaking down game film and analyzing the sport, has some fair points. It is fair to assume that nationally, the Hoosiers won't get the full respect they deserve from some people if they go 9-3 or 8-4 this season. People will view the 2025 season as a fluke rather than something Indiana can sustain.

The issue with that statement is that it doesn't matter what people think of Indiana's recent success. Most people will give them full credit and realize what they did is not normal and was truly special. There weren't many people who thought a team could go 16-0 in a 12-team playoff season. The Hoosiers did that.

They also dominated college football powers in the Alabama Crimson Tide and Oregon Ducks, before winning a hard-fought battle against the Miami Hurricanes. The Hoosiers didn't go out and beat the Group of Five representative. They beat some of the best programs in the history of the sport.

The pressure was before the 2025 season. After going 11-2, a ton of people thought that season was fluky. So, the Hoosiers going 16-0 and winning the national championship validated that the previous year was truly special.

They also did all of this while being considered one of the worst programs in FBS history. So, the people who truly know and analyze the sport will give Indiana the full benefit, even if it comes back down to a 9-3 or 8-4 season.

That's why Indiana is under no pressure in 2026.