"As recently as midway through this past autumn, the Hoosiers were still college football's all-time losingest program in Division I. They had never enjoyed a double-digit win season in program history, and had gotten close to the benchmark only about a half-dozen occasions. Indiana football was, by just about any measure, one of the least successful teams in the sport for most of its existence ... until Curt Cignetti arrived."
"Hired at the conclusion of the 2023 season, it took Cignetti virtually no time to reshape the Hoosiers. Indiana raced to an 11-2 mark in the head coach's first campaign and then, in case there were doubts about that being a fluke, followed it up with an undefeated national championship run in Year 2 -- the first team to finish a season 16-0 since Yale in 1894."
Indiana rose from being the all-time losingest Division I football program to a transformed powerhouse under Curt Cignetti. Hired after the 2023 season, Cignetti guided Indiana to an 11-2 record in his first year and an undefeated 16-0 national championship in Year 2. The 16-0 season marked the first perfect 16-win campaign since Yale in 1894. The turnaround prompted comparisons to other improbable champions across major team sports, including Leicester City's 5000-1 Premier League title run, highlighting examples of teams overcoming extreme preseason odds and long-standing underachievement.
Read at ESPN.com
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