Indiana football has already given its fans plenty to celebrate this season.
The Hoosiers are 5-0, ranked No. 7 in the country and once again looking like a serious force under head coach Curt Cignetti. But despite their perfect record and the remarkable turnaround Cignetti has engineered in Bloomington, not everyone is impressed with what Indiana has accomplished so far.
Former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer has delivered a blunt assessment of the Hoosiers’ season, and his comments could fuel a major debate about how much credit a team deserves when it dominates weaker opposition.
Meyer essentially suggested that, in his mind, Indiana should be viewed as a 2-0 team rather than 5-0 because of the level of competition it has faced.
That is an extraordinary statement considering Indiana has yet to lose a game.
But Meyer’s argument is not necessarily about whether the Hoosiers are good enough to win. Instead, it is about how the College Football Playoff selection committee should evaluate teams with very different schedules.
And that is where things get particularly interesting.
Indiana Has Taken Care of Business
There is no question that Indiana’s schedule has provided the Hoosiers with several opportunities to pile up victories.
Indiana opened the season against North Texas before facing Howard and Western Kentucky. Those opponents may not carry the same national reputation as some of the powerhouse programs in the Big Ten, but Indiana did exactly what a highly ranked team is expected to do.
The Hoosiers did not simply survive those games.
They dominated.
That distinction matters.
Every season, highly ranked teams are expected to defeat inferior opponents, and Indiana has consistently done that. The Hoosiers have not allowed their early schedule to become a trap.
Instead, they have used those games to build confidence, develop their roster and maintain their position among the nation’s top teams.
But Meyer believes the quality of those opponents should significantly affect how Indiana is evaluated.
Speaking on The Triple Option, Meyer explained that he has mentally started treating Indiana as a 2-0 team rather than a 5-0 team.
“I’ve started to train my mind to look like — Indiana’s 2-0 to me,” Meyer said.
He went even further, explaining that he does not pay much attention to Indiana’s performances against teams such as Howard when comparing the Hoosiers with teams that have faced significantly stronger opposition.
Meyer’s argument is simple: beating a weaker opponent does not necessarily tell you as much about a team’s championship potential as competing against an elite opponent.
Meyer Wants the CFP Committee to Think Differently
The most interesting part of Meyer’s comments is that he believes the same approach should be used when the College Football Playoff committee evaluates teams.
The former Ohio State coach pointed toward Ohio State’s close loss to Texas as an example.
In Meyer’s view, a narrow defeat against an elite opponent can tell evaluators much more about a team than a dominant victory over a lower-level program.
That creates an interesting dilemma for Indiana.
If the Hoosiers are 5-0 but have accumulated several wins against teams that are not highly ranked, should they receive the same credit as another undefeated team that has already faced multiple ranked opponents?
Meyer clearly believes the answer should be no.
He suggested that games against extremely weak competition should not carry the same weight when evaluating teams for the College Football Playoff.
“I hope our voters do that. I think the CFP should do the same thing,” Meyer said.
That viewpoint could become increasingly important as the season progresses.
Indiana still has major tests ahead, and those games will ultimately provide the Hoosiers with the opportunity to answer the criticism on the field.
Ohio State and USC Are Waiting
While Meyer has questioned Indiana’s early schedule, the Hoosiers still have some major games ahead.
Indiana is scheduled to face both Ohio State and USC, two programs that will provide a much stronger test than the opponents the Hoosiers encountered at the beginning of the season.
Those games could dramatically change the conversation surrounding Indiana.
If Cignetti’s team defeats Ohio State and USC, the argument about its early schedule will become much harder to sustain.
A victory over Ohio State, in particular, would provide Indiana with the kind of résumé-defining win that can silence questions about strength of schedule.
The Hoosiers are also benefiting from avoiding Oregon during the regular season, meaning their schedule does not include every major contender in the conference.
That does not mean Indiana should be dismissed.
It simply means the Hoosiers will have fewer opportunities to collect marquee victories.
And that makes every major matchup even more important.
Cignetti Has Already Changed Indiana Football
It is also important to remember where Indiana was before Cignetti arrived.
The Hoosiers were not traditionally viewed as one of the Big Ten’s elite programs.
Cignetti changed that perception remarkably quickly.
In his first season, he guided Indiana to the College Football Playoff, transforming the program from a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team into a national contender.
Then came an even bigger achievement.
In his second season, Indiana completed an extraordinary run and finished as the national champion.
That history makes the current criticism particularly fascinating.
Indiana is not simply a random team sitting at 5-0 because of a soft schedule.
This is a program that has already demonstrated that it can compete at the highest level under Cignetti.
The challenge now is proving that last year’s championship success was not an isolated achievement.
History Is Repeating Itself
Interestingly, Indiana faced a similar criticism during its championship campaign.
In 2025, the Hoosiers also played several teams outside the upper tier of college football.
Their schedule included Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State.
Indiana won those games and continued building momentum.
Critics could point toward the schedule and question just how much those victories revealed about the Hoosiers.
But Indiana eventually answered the criticism in the most convincing way possible.
They finished the season undefeated and walked away as national champions.
That history makes Meyer’s current comments especially intriguing.
Indiana has already shown that it can dominate weaker opponents and still compete for a championship.
The question is whether this year’s team can do it again.
The Pressure Is About to Increase
At 5-0 and ranked No. 7, Indiana has put itself in an excellent position.
But the margin for error is about to become smaller.
The Hoosiers can continue destroying weaker opponents, but eventually they will have to prove themselves against the teams that Meyer believes should define their résumé.
Ohio State and USC will provide those opportunities.
If Indiana wins those games, the Hoosiers will have little reason to worry about the criticism surrounding their early schedule.
If they struggle, however, Meyer’s argument will suddenly look much more significant.
That is what makes his comments so fascinating.
He is not necessarily saying Indiana is a bad football team.
He is questioning how much we actually know about Indiana because of the opponents it has faced.
There is a major difference.
Indiana Has the Chance to Answer Everyone
Ultimately, the best response Indiana can give will come on the football field.
Cignetti has already taken the Hoosiers further than many expected when he took over the program.
Now, Indiana is once again sitting among the nation’s elite.
The Hoosiers are 5-0.
They are ranked No. 7.
They are the defending national champions.
And yet, one of the most respected coaches in college football history has essentially said that he does not view their record the same way everyone else does.
That is going to make the remainder of Indiana’s schedule even more fascinating.
Every victory will be examined.
Every close game will be discussed.
And when Ohio State and USC finally arrive, the Hoosiers will have the opportunity to provide the answer that matters most.
Can Indiana beat the best teams on its schedule?
Can Cignetti’s program prove that its rise was not simply the result of favorable scheduling?
And can the defending national champions once again force everyone to take them seriously?
Urban Meyer has made his position clear.
For now, he sees Indiana as 2-0 rather than 5-0.
But the Hoosiers still have plenty of football left to change his mind.
And if Indiana manages to navigate the difficult part of its schedule successfully, Meyer’s comments may ultimately become just another chapter in the growing story of one of college football’s most remarkable recent turnarounds.
