When Notre Dame football announced the return of its rivalry with USC, the move overshadowed another top team opting out of playing the Irish.
The Indiana Hoosiers backed out of playing Notre Dame, which opened the door for the Trojans to return to the future schedule. However, Indiana’s head coach Curt Cignetti made some comments on what he’d like to see from the Hoosiers and Irish’s potential rivalry. Keep in mind that it was his school that opted out, and during his tenure hasn’t really played any difficult non-conference games.
Cignetti said “they (Notre Dame) out to come to our place twice, and we’ll go there once, since they’re not in a conference.” This is a terrible idea, as most top teams often schedule a home-and-home, not adding a third game to the mix or even having a team host that game. Having a conference affiliation has nothing to do with this, as his comments make absolutely no sense.
Could this thinking been a reason why Indiana opted out of playing Notre Dame? It very well could, as the last time these two met, in the first-round of the 2024 College Football Playoff, with the Irish winning at home. The Hoosiers have a history of ducking some of the best teams during the regular season, and until they schedule a few more challenging games, they’ll continue that idea.
NEW: Curt Cignetti on the Indiana-Notre Dame series being canceled:
— On3 (@On3) August 15, 2026
"I’d like to play Notre Dame. They ought to come to our place twice, and we’ll go there once, since they’re not in a conference."
(via @BigTenNetwork) https://t.co/UnH3XpjoYwpic.twitter.com/jJordNEHa6
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Indiana’s Curt Cignetti proposes wild idea to play Notre Dame