Urban Meyer names Big Ten program a national title contender

Urban Meyer wasted no words when discussing a Big Ten team that he considers a valid national title contender on The Triple Option. Meyer was discussing the now-vacant Penn State job with Rob Stone and Mark Ingram and riffed on the potential best issue to motivate a coach to move being a chance to win a title if it's not otherwise available. This caused Stone to ask Meyer point blank if Indiana could win the national title.

Urban's take on the Hoosiers

Absolutely, yes, they can when you watch them play. Absolutely yes. They have good enough players and they're as well coached team as [any in the] United States of America.
Urban Meyer

Stone asked Meyer if he thought Cignetti was the national Coach of the Year. Meyer deadpanned, "Done. D-U-N, Done."

Cignetti's IU miracle

Cignetti's work at Indiana has been perhaps the biggest shift in college football's last two season. Indiana had not won 10 games in a season ever and had not finished a season in the top 10 of either major poll since 1967. Cignetti was a 63-year old new coach who had coached two seasons of FBS football at James Madison University.

But after an 11-2 2024 season that allowed Indiana to reach the College Football Playoff and finish the season ranked No. 10 in both major polls, the Big Ten seemed to have a shift. Still, many thought Indiana was destined to fade to the middle of the pack. Penn State instead began the season as the nation's No. 2 team, and thus, the preseason Big Ten favorite.

After six games, James Franklin has now been fired from 3-3 Penn State and Indiana is 6-0 and ranked No. 3 in the nation. ESPN's FPI rankings place Indiana second nationally and give the Hoosiers a 93% chance of returning to the College Football Playoff again in 2025.

Cignetti's footprint is all over IU's success. Transfer QB Fernando Mendoza is a Heisman trophy candidate leading an offense that is No. 4 nationally in scoring (44.8 ppg) and No. 8 in yardage (502.8 yards per game). Indiana's success isn't a one-dimensional fluke, though. The Hoosiers also rank No. 4 nationally in scoring defense (11.3 ppg ) and defensive yardage (229.0 ypg).

Indiana has no remaining ranked teams on its regular season schedule. FPI gives the Hoosiers just over a 70% chance of winning at Penn State, an 86% chance of winning at Maryland, and a 94.7% or better chance to win each of the other four games remaining. Cignetti looks likely to remain on top of the college football heap, and Meyer's comments reflect a growing awareness that he doesn't have to flee for greener pastures to potentially win an NCAA title.