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Fernando Mendoza, Curt Cignetti honored with huge Indiana milestone in TIME Magazine blurb originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
One of the greatest stories in sports culminated in January when the Indiana Hoosiers capped their undefeated season with a national title win over the Miami Hurricanes.
Even though former Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza has moved on to the NFL, TIME Magazine made sure to give the team a shoutout by honoring both him and Cignetti amongst the most influential people.
"Two words will forever be associated with Curt Cignetti, who led Indiana to its first national football championship in January: 'Google me,” Sean Gregory wrote. “That's what Cignetti said at the national-signing-day press conference in 2023 when asked how he was going to sell his vision for the Hoosiers to high school recruits and players in the transfer portal. His point: he was a winner, as evidenced by the success he enjoyed at smaller programs, most recently James Madison, which he led to a 41-8 record across four seasons and appearances in the AP Top 25 rankings in 2022 and 2023.”
With how shocking the turnaround was, it just goes to show that the Hoosiers captured the imagination of college football fans everywhere.
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"Indiana, known more for basketball, hadn't done much in football, but Cignetti blew past all expectations. With Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza under center, Indiana finished the 2025 season 16-0. After Indiana's 27-21 victory over Miami in the title game, Google added a delightful Easter egg at the top of the results page for those who searched for Cignetti: "Yup, he won."
Meanwhile, as Gregory put it, Mendoza was more than just a quarterback.
"His enthusiastic postgame interviews became a staple that fans can only hope continue with the Las Vegas Raiders, who took him No. 1 in the NFL Draft,” Gregory wrote. “Mendoza has cited his mother, Elsa, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis nearly 20 years ago, as an inspiration: in April, he announced he was donating $500,000 for MS research."
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We’ll see if the Hoosiers can maintain their momentum entering this fall.
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