It feels like a running joke at this point, but Curt Cignetti and Indiana football just cannot beat the “easy schedule” allegations. Ever since he arrived in Bloomington, it seems as if the football gods are pulling strings for him. In Cignetti’s first year, their SOS was ranked 43rd, and last season (2025), they were in the vicinity of 45th. This upcoming season isn’t any different.

On Tuesday, Ari Wasserman of On3 released a new 2026 Big Ten “toughest” schedule ranking. The historic conference powerhouses like Ohio State and Michigan are first and second, respectively. Curt’s Indiana is sitting comfy at No. 16 out of the 18 teams in the Big Ten.

If you dive straight into the actual numbers and the dates, it becomes so glaringly obvious why the rival fan bases are making such a big deal out of it. Indiana lines up an absolute cakewalk for their three non-conference games, playing North Texas (Sep. 5), Howard (Sep. 12), and Western Kentucky (Sep. 19). On top of that, they kick off their Big Ten schedule at home against a rebuilding Northwestern team on September 25.

However, Indiana is not the first team to hear people talk about schedules. Before winning the national championship, Michigan was in the line of fire, scrutinized for having a non-conference lineup in the 2023 season, featuring Colorado State and Hawaii.

Curt Cignetti, who responded to the same criticism last year, framed the Hoosiers’ approach as closer to the SEC’s softer non-conference model than the Big Ten’s grind. This soft-launch opening gives the Hoosiers a statistical probability to cruise to a 4-0 or even 6-0 start to the 2026 season without ever playing a ranked opponent whatsoever.

Indiana outscored its non-conference foes 156-23 in previous seasons; its fanbase expects similar dominance in 2026. Meanwhile, Ohio State has to play Texas in Week 2 for its non-conference slate and Kirk Ferentz’s tough Iowa Hawkeyes on October 3. Same goes for Michigan, with the Sooners in Week 2 and Iowa on September 26.

It does not look like the athletic department is doing Coach Cignetti any favors when it comes to silencing the critics who say his regular-season win totals are heavily padded. Fans from rival schools love to point out that Indiana avoids playing Oregon in the regular season entirely, even though the Ducks were ranked fourth in the toughest schedule rankings.

Even if you give Lincoln Riley’s USC the benefit of the doubt this time around, the Hoosiers are playing them at home in the freezing November weather instead of traveling out to sunny Los Angeles. When your team’s schedule is mathematically easier than 88% of your conference peers, it is impossible to escape the noise from analysts who say your program is playing life on easy mode.

Indiana proved doubters wrong last postseason; they beat Ohio State in the Big Ten game, then dismantled Oregon, the team that handed them their only regular-season loss. So, it would be unfair to criticize them, even though it’s still quite true.

How does Cignetti manage to win big games despite having such an easy schedule?

Cignetti and his OC and DC actually manipulate the modern transfer portal market. The program isn’t pulling in a dozen consensus five-star high school recruits every winter. Indiana targets experienced portal transfers, and by December, they field a battle-tested roster.

There is also a clear benefit to their scheduled style, as a soft schedule also preserves Indiana’s health. Ohio State would grind through tough weeks while Cignetti’s team will enter the playoffs fresher.

At the end of the day, Indiana’s schedule might bring up “easy mode” talk, but Cignetti’s playoff wins silence it. As long as Cignetti keeps leading them to deep playoff runs and beating top teams when it matters most, nobody in Bloomington will complain about the path that gets them there.