Jan 19, 2026
3 min read
Indiana president Pamela Witten said the Hoosiers' rapid rise to the top of college football was expected when they hired Kurt Cignetti.
Miami Beach, Fla. - While some college football fans may be considering Indiana's historic run to the College Football Playoff National Championship game on Monday night, university president Pamela Witten said Sunday that coach Kurt Cignetti was hired the right way.
"It's just a thought that we're going to the national championship," Witten said on the eve of the CFP championship game against No. 10 Miami at Hard Rock Stadium."That's the goal. And so it's funny when people say, 'Oh, aren't you surprised that Indiana won the national championship?' I don't want to spoil it, but it's not. That's the goal."
Sinetti takes over a school with one of the losing streaks in major college football history and is seeking the program's first national title after leading the Indians to their first two 10-win seasons.Indiana went 9-27 in the three seasons before Wheaton and athletic director Scott Dolson hired Cignetti in 2023, and has an FBS-best 26-2 record over the past two seasons.
"We're here because we've set the right path and we've got the right people on staff and in the locker room, and we've got a lot of support from our president and athletic director, and we've got a lot of fans," Cignetti said at Saturday's CFP media day."We've got a plan and a process and we've got good management and good players and at the level of our play we've been very solid in all three areas so we've met all the challenges. It's nothing new for us to be here."
Witten, who was hired to lead Indiana in 2021, said that with football generating 75-80 percent of the university's sports revenue, the Hoosiers could not treat it "as more than an intramural sport, so we have to prioritize it, and we have to win, and we have to go to a national championship."Dolson, he said, was so happy that he was like "liberated."With the help of the transfer portal and the NIL, Indiana jumped to the No. 1 team in the country.
But the fact that it only took two years has been one of the most notable stories in the sport.
"Obviously, it's been a big story in the last two years," Cignetti said."It was a quick development, kind of a surrender. It's a big story on the ground. I understand that. But it's something different from the mentality of our team right now, with us physically here and what we mean today, what we're going to accomplish today."
Indiana's playoff win over Oregon was its third of the season against an AP top-five opponent, a historic turnaround as the Hoosiers were 1-72 against top-five teams prior to 2025. With a win against Miami, Cignetti would become the first FBS coach to win a national title in his first season in Genedzik, who won in his second season, A. Tigers.
"We really know we can win," Witten said."All three of us are going into it, we're going to win. We can win. There's never been a doubt in our minds, that's the goal. I'm confused by people who don't believe that."
