gut wrote:

Portal.

I mean, on one hand it's really kind of cool.  On the other it's an absolute abomination.

Maybe, but isn't Indiana a bunch of  3-star recruits and James Madison transfers?

Also probably helps that the roster has an average age of like 23.

cignetti’s team of grown ass transfers beating the shit out of 19 year old 5 stars in the playoffs: pic.twitter.com/3DUWtkhQs6

— Trey Rowland (@trey_rowland59) January 10, 2026

gut wrote:

Portal.

I mean, on one hand it's really kind of cool.  On the other it's an absolute abomination.

Yes and no. Mendoza is obviously the biggest and most important player -- and he was portal. But unless we are counting JMU guys that Cig brought with him, everyone else who is making impacts currently are not.

Fisher - JMU

Sarratt - JMU

Ponds - JMU

Kamara - JMU

Black - JMU

Hemby - Maryland (so Portal)

Moore - IU out of HS

Ferrall - IU out of HS

Carter Smith - IU out of HS

Benson - IU out of HS

Cooper - IU out of HS

Landino - IU out of HS

Hardy - IU out of HS

Coogan - Notre Dame (so portal)

Becker - IU out of HS

Khobie Martin - IU out of HS

They are way less portal merchants than people are spewing. Again, I am counting JMU as recruits since Cignetti recruited and developed them. And players following a coach is not new.

justincredible wrote:

Also probably helps that the roster has an average age of like 23.

The average age of starters in yesterdays game was Indiana was 1 year older than Oregon. 

justincredible wrote:

Maybe, but isn't Indiana a bunch of  3-star recruits and James Madison transfers?

Yes. I believe they have zero five-stars and seven four-stars, which is way, way, way fewer than any of the other three teams in the Final Four. And probably way fewer than any non Group of Five team in the playoffs. 

Dante Moore returning to Oregon, which is bad news for Justin’s Jets because there’s one less QB for them to look at after Mendoza likely goes to the Raiders. But also weird because Raiola just transferred to Oregon. 

Raiola can red shirt can’t he

friendfromlowry wrote:

Dante Moore returning to Oregon, which is bad news for Justin’s Jets because there’s one less QB for them to look at after Mendoza likely goes to the Raiders. But also weird because Raiola just transferred to Oregon. 

Nah, this is good news. Not a fan of drafting young QBs with few college starts.

Draft Carnell Tate at 2 (or trade down a spot or two and get him) and grab Beck in the 2nd round. I'd be okay with Ty Simpson later on as well, just don't want to spend a high pick with lack of college starts.

justincredible wrote:

Nah, this is good news. Not a fan of drafting young QBs with few college starts.

If you’re happy, I’m happy 

I am not sure Tate is worth #2. But he very well might be the best option at this point. Pretty underwhelming top of the draft.

Laley23 wrote:

I am not sure Tate is worth #2. But he very well might be the best option at this point. Pretty underwhelming top of the draft.

Yeah I would prefer to trade down a few spots and take him at 4 or 5 and get another pick in the process. Not sure who they take if they stay at 2.

I like Tyson slightly more. But that is a coin flip. Ultimately, I think you trade out of 2, you wont get near the value as past drafts. So might as well take your top player on your board at that point.

As a bengals fan I’m praying Reese or Downs falls to us. More likely Downs but fixing the secondary and dline should be the focus. 

He ran out of bounds for a 1st down at 2:16…why did the clock run down to 2:00 warning?

Bad pass there to seal it…wow, worst pass of the entire game

Was a good game

And no more CFB for seven months :-(

I am hurting today. And it was all totally worth it.

Congratulations laley

Well, that does make sense! Me, I'm just hoping that this hire is like Patricia, where a pro coach who's fallen on hard times gets revitalized because he's now coaching a bunch of 4-5 stars with NFL potential and he winds up looking way better than he did at his last NFL stop. 

Much as I don’t care for Dani, he makes fair points about the state of CFB with his criticism of Ol Miss tampering. The problem is he’s a day late and a dollar short. Tge ship has sailed on this topic. 

I think the Indiana, Ol Miss, Vandy type success stories are going to become more commonplace. Indiana’s run was great. But my guess is that in 10 years, it won’t be seen as quite the amazing story it is now.

The thing that sets Indiana apart from those others, it does not appear to be resigned to a single run. Its already 2 years for Indiana, and about to be 3 by all indications. 

I also will push back on Indiana building thru the transfer portal (I consider JMU transfers to be HS recruits for Cignetti, not transfers).

Laley23 wrote:

The thing that sets Indiana apart from those others, it does not appear to be resigned to a single run. Its already 2 years for Indiana, and about to be 3 by all indications. 

I also will push back on Indiana building thru the transfer portal (I consider JMU transfers to be HS recruits for Cignetti, not transfers).

Fair points. I do think what Cignetti’s done is amazing. But I don’t think it will be the outlier it looks like now. I realize he’s not been portal dependent, although the portal came through strong at QB.