By Chris Marler
You thought your ex was bad? Or politicians?
Whew buddy, just wait until you hear what kind of alternate reality Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti and Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti have conjured up at Big Ten Media Days this week.
You’ve probably heard the phrase gaslighting before. It became a trendy buzz word in therapy and Millennial and Gen Z breakup stories being blasted all over social media. The definition is when someone “manipulates another into questioning their own sanity, perception of reality, or memories. It’s a tactic used to gain power and control in a relationship, often by denying facts, distorting events, or making the victim doubt their own experiences.”
If that doesn’t perfectly describe what both Cignetti and Petitti have spent the last several months doing in regards to Big Ten versus SEC scheduling, then I don’t know what does.
The fact of the matter is, facts have taken a back seat. Feelings, two decades worth of frustration and propaganda have somehow taken precedence over simple google searches and easy to find – wait for it — facts.
On Tuesday, Cignetti was asked about Indiana cancelling another Power 4 Non-Conference opponent (Virginia) in favor of FCS Austin Peay. It’s the fourth time in as many years that Indiana has done this, and it’s the third time they’ve replaced a Power 4 team with an FCS team. The lone FBS opponent they scheduled as a replacement? Kennesaw State, who’s in year two of being an FBS team. Still, that didn’t stop Cignetti from taking a jab at the SEC with his response.
“We figured we would just adopt SEC scheduling philosophy.”
Sick burn, bro.
Granted, there’s no substance to it, but don’t let that stop you from getting those jokes off. The only problem with Cignetti’s comments is that they have no merit. Look at Indiana’s schedule last year. They didn’t face a ranked opponent until their second to last game of the season (Ohio State). Even worse, up until that point of the season they hadn’t even played a team that was over .500 in their first ten games.
But never mind that. Let’s get back to the whole FCS thing. Austin Peay has joined Western Illinois and Indiana State as three FCS opponents to replace Louisville and Virginia. That doesn’t even begin to tell the story though.
Over the next five years, Indiana has the following scheduled in their non-conference slate:
- 13 games
- 0 Power Four Opponents
- 0 Road Games
- 4 FCS Opponents
- 7 FBS Opponents, of which only 2 had a winning records in 2024
Again, these are just facts though. What has happened in lieu of factual information being taken into account has been a fear mongering, pointing out the boogeyman approach that even most politicians would scoff at. In this case, the boogeyman is the SEC playing eight conference games and a few playing FCS teams late in the season (because playing Mercer in November is despicable). Playing them in September is honorable. Am I doing this right?
That ninth conference game has become a beacon of morality and strength for the Big Ten.
I guess I missed when playing a ninth game against 1-11 Purdue all of a sudden became some incredibly difficult obstacle. And I definitely missed when every other conference was asked to sign up for nine games, and that wasn’t just an independent decision the Big Ten made for their own financial gain. Right?
Wrong.
The Big Ten made this decision in 2017, and they did so for their own financial gain. So explain to me how a decision made for your own financial well-being has somehow not only become every other conference’s problem, but has also been the main argument in this victim story arc they’ve created for themselves.
Give them credit where credit is due. What an incredible job in PR and messaging that this group was able to somehow pull this off. Somehow it’s working.
Forget the strength of schedule. Forget the amount of ranked teams each team is playing. Forget the fact that the SEC will put the most players in the NFL for roughly the 87th year in a row, y’all. Forget all that. Forget that from 2025-2031, South Carolina will play ten Power 4 teams every year. From 2025-2034, Alabama will do the same. From 2026-2024, UGA will play at least ten P4 opponents and even 11 in three of those years.
Forget that Florida will play ten P4 opponents in seven of the next nine years and 11 total in two of those. Forget that Texas won’t play ten P4 opponents, but will play Michigan, Notre Dame, and Ohio State all in the next five years.
Forget all that. Because Indiana plays 1-11 Purdue. Penn State plays Northwestern. Michigan might play both, AND do so without even cheating this time.
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