BLOOMINGTON, IN – The crowd inside “Upstairs Pub” began to grow as the clock ticked toward Friday evening on the Indiana campus, with students streaming out of classes and heading to local drinking establishments for what would be a wild 24 hours.
Clearly, the mood has changed in this college town thanks to the Hoosiers winning the CFP title last year, as well as head coach Curt Cignetti turning this program into a football juggernaut in just two years.
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Whether it was the clothing stores where fans lined up for the chance to buy Indiana gear, or the restaurants that were already filling up early Friday afternoon, it’s clear that the attitude has changed in this college town that once glossed over football season in anticipation of basketball.
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Later in the day, No. 4 Ohio State will visit No. 5 Indiana in what will be the most electric atmosphere Bloomington has seen in decades.
You might call it a “revival” or the Cignetti effect, but it’s not hard to notice the culture shift in Bloomington.
“We’re a football school now, and I hate to say that about the basketball program,” noted Edward, a native of suburban Indianapolis. “We spent years praying for some sort of college football renaissance within this fan base, and we finally got it during one of the craziest times in sports.
“A lot of schools are trying to achieve the magic of Indiana by rebuilding a program in such a short period of time. And those expectations are really centered on what happened here in Bloomington. That part is crazy to me. We expect to win football games now, which is a wonderful feeling.
Curt Cignetti made Bloomington the epicenter of college football this weekend, thanks to his Indiana renaissance (Via: Trey Wallace. OutKick)
So, about Indiana beating Ohio State at home
The last time a Hoosiers football team beat the Buckeyes in Bloomington was in 1988.
It took Indiana three decades to end a losing streak against Ohio State, which finally ended last season at Lucas Oil Stadium in the Big Ten championship game.
Additionally, it will be the first time a top-five college football game has been played at Memorial Stadium since 1960, as Indiana goes on a 22-game winning streak when it takes on the Buckeyes on Saturday.
Essentially, there are a lot of firsts that could end up coming to fruition for an Indiana team that has defied all odds over the past two seasons, against plenty of odds and fans who might still feel like it was just a fluke.
I’m here to tell you that nothing Curt Cignetti does on this campus, or those of his opponents, is centered around some magical voodoo that the Hoosiers head coach has placed on the Big Ten.
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Whether or not people outside of Bloomington believe Indiana can do it again this season is beside the point.
The fans lining Kirkwood Avenue, or the thousands who came to town Friday night, are the true barometer of where this program has fared in such a short time that other college athletic directors are trying to replicate Cignetti’s magic.
“I don’t think people really understood what we were going through as fans,” said Thomas, a longtime OutKick season ticket holder. “I’ve been coming to games for thirty years, and I’ve never seen this type of excitement, and it’s hard to relate it to basketball. Of course, we don’t ignore the narrative that has followed our football program like a dark cloud.
“But why do you think we don’t take these moments for granted? We earned this shit, and I promise you this fan base isn’t arrogant. We just expect to win now, which clearly wasn’t the case just a few years ago. So yeah, I expect us to beat Ohio State.”
Curt Cignetti made Bloomington the epicenter of college football this weekend, thanks to his Indiana renaissance (Via: Trey Wallace. OutKick)
If Indiana can do it, others around college football can too
I’ve been to many college campuses during my career, and the resurgent joy we see in Bloomington is contagious.
No longer is it a loyal group of fans waiting until November so they can get into the Assembly Hall and watch the basketball program, which has also had its problems over the years.
But what Indiana football has done for the school is provide hope that everything that has happened in the last two years in one sport can be done again at multiple venues across campus.
Curt Cignetti, head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers, after defeating the Miami Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff national championship game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on January 19, 2026. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
Curt Cignetti hasn’t just provided a championship mindset for passionate fans who have weathered days of blowouts and small glimmers of hope in years past.
The man who asked you to Google him has revived an athletic department and fan base that will make Saturday’s atmosphere on Indiana’s campus more like a cinematic backdrop hosting the first college football game of the day.
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At the same time, since this is happening here in Bloomington, there are programs across the country that now believe they can pull off the same type of magical history that we’re seeing in Indiana.
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