Indiana's Curt Cignetti: The Big Ten is the best conference because 'we don't cry a river, whine, and complain' after falling short

There’s no doubt that Curt Cignetti believes the Big Ten is the best conference in college football heading into the 2026 season.

Cignetti’s Hoosiers are looking to become just the second team in the playoff era to win back-to-back national championships in 2026. As Indiana went 16-0 and won the national title in January, it was the third straight Big Ten team to win the College Football Playoff.

Georgia, which went back-to-back in 2021 and 2022, is the last SEC team to win a title. And while Cignetti thought it was a “loaded question” at Big Ten media days on Thursday when asked whether the Big Ten’s nine-game conference schedule it was a positive or a negative for the playoff, he used that question as an opportunity to tout the conference’s strength.

And also potentially make an indirect dig at another.

“I think that’s a loaded question. I think your job as a head coach and the assistants is to equip your roster, make it as strong as possible with adequate depth at every position throughout the team,” Cignetti said. “When you play that many games you’re going to get some guys dinged and injured, things happen. Next man up mentality.

“The Big Ten is the best league in football and a lot of really good football teams. It’s hard to win on the road. Very physical football teams. Very well-coached. It definitely prepares you for the playoffs, there’s no doubt about it, the numbers speak for themselves.

“We don’t run a hype machine up here in the midwest, we believe that everything’s earned, not given. And when we fall short we say we fell short. We don’t cry a river, whine, and complain. Alright? And that’s why we’re the best.”

You can certainly quibble with the statement that the Big Ten doesn’t run a hype machine. The conference is very proud of its three straight national titles and has a really good chance at a fourth consecutive one. Indiana, Oregon and Ohio State all enter the season as legitimate national title contenders and are among the top five betting favorites to win the national title.

Texas, the No. 2 favorite behind Ohio State, is the only SEC team in the top five.

The SEC’s only claim to being the best conference is with its depth. You can make the strong case that the SEC is the deepest conference in college football. But while the SEC had five teams in the playoff a season ago, the Big Ten had three. And all there of the Big Ten’s teams were among the top five seeds.

Indiana doesn’t have a cakewalk to a third straight CFP appearance either. After playing two ranked teams during the regular season in 2025 thanks to Penn State’s demise, The Hoosiers have games against Ohio State, Michigan, USC and Washington all in the second half of the season. If USC is as good as coach Lincoln Riley says it is, the Big Ten could be even better in 2026. And Cignetti’s words could turn out to be hardly be controversial in SEC country.