A little more than six hours remain until the Indiana Hoosiers take the field vs. The Miami Hurricanes in the national championship game in Miami Gardens, Fla., from Hard Rock Stadium.
With the Hoosiers on the verge of completing an undefeated season, there are still pundits who say coach Curt Cignetti is still living in a fantasy world where magical football will transpire forever.
While some may have solid arguments, former ESPN analyst David Pollack went in on those who suggested the Hoosiers have an unfair advantage or don't play by the same rules as everyone else.
“Right now, I would say when you’re talking about Cignetti, as much as Marcus Freeman got a lot of pub, there’s no coach getting more pub than Cignetti,” Pollack said.
Even though Pollack acknowledged Cignetti's well-deserved publicity, he took it a step further and said the media coverage has been significantly inflated in his favor.
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"If Cignetti wrote on a napkin that ‘Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard’. ‘Oh my God, it’s the greatest quote in the history of the world.’ We’d literally would be like ‘Cignetti’s the biggest genius I’v’ve ever seen.' That’s one thing, honestly, because I’m very much a contrarian. I get, really, really tired of certain narratives," Pollack said.
Pollack said just because of how good the Hoosiers have become, the coverage has dumbed down to what "bothers him: oversimplifying how to recruit talent, which ESPN recently covered in a long-form about the Hoosiers' turnaround.
“But, the fact that I saw an ESPN article the other day that was like Cignetti personally watches every transfer, No shiznit, Sherlock,” Pollack said. “So does every other motherfreaking head coach in college football. Like, they all watch ’em. You don’t think Kirby (Smart) down the road is going ‘Nah, y’all got it… I trust you with my $2.5 million check I’m about to stroke.’ No shiznit. That part bothers me a little bit. I love Cig, and I think he’s been great for the sport. His confidence, his leadership — he’s got all of the right things.”
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Regardless of the outcome, Cignetti has clearly shown there can be multiple superpowers in college football. They just now happen to come from the Big Ten instead of the primary dominance coming from the SEC.
And that's arguably part of the new era, which college football fans are getting used to.
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