Much has been made of Indiana’s rise to the top of college football. A program synonymous with failure winning the national title?
They must have bought it.
After Indiana’s CFP triumph, folks declared Indiana spent roughly $40 million on its 2025-26 roster. To which Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti responded, “Not even close.”
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OPINION: College sports isn’t broken — it’s ungoverned. And the fix is being ignored
In actuality, Indiana’s number is closer to half that. But don’t let that stop a narrative to explain the unexplainable.
And while Cignetti downplayed the cost of last season’s roster, he warns the cost to build a competitive roster is spiraling out of control.
“The market is pretty expensive,” Cignetti said, before speaking at an event at the athletic department’s annual booster event. “It’s scary. I think players should get paid. But something’s going to have to be done in the next 12 to 24 months, or universities might not be able to handle this. College football won’t exist the way we’re going right now.”
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The “Protect College Sports Act of 2026”, which was revealed Wednesday, May 27 by Sens. Maria Cantwell and Ted Cruz contains provisions to address that, including a hard salary cap and additional enforcement mechanisms. It would also seek to put rules in place, such as a one-time transfer rule and restrictions on former professional athletes playing in college, along with an antitrust exemption to avoid having the rules contested in court.
The Big Ten recently held its annual spring meetings in Los Angeles, where university presidents, athletic directors and coaches gathered to discuss many of those same topics. Cignetti declined to offer any insight into what rules or changes, if any, he advocated for.
“We all have our opinions, and, you know, what’s the point?” Cignetti said.. “I just hope we get things fixed.”
That’s been Cignetti’s stance since arriving in Bloomington. He’s been publicly supportive of Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti’s approach and the conference’s focus on expanding the CFP to 24 teams. He reiterated that sentiment on Wednesday.
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“You know, again, you know, I know what our people support, and I support what our people support,” Cignetti said. “For me to comment on this or that, you know, I got no control over this process.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: As costs climb, Curt Cignetti sees college football approaching a crossroads
