Curt Cignetti didn't hold back.
He saw an opportunity to defend his Indiana Hoosiers football program, and the head coach put down the SEC to do so.
Cignetti was asked about canceling a home-and-home series with Virginia, which leaves Indiana playing only Group of Five or FCS games in the non-conference in the near future.
“12 of the 16 SEC teams play three G5 (Group of Five) or an FCS game,” Cignetti said. “Twelve of those teams play 36 games – 29 G5 games and seven FCS games, and have one less conference game. We figured we’d just adopt SEC scheduling philosophy. Some people don’t like it. I’m more focused in on those nine conference games.”
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Indiana went 11-1 last season against what most considered a weak schedule.
The non-conference schedule this year for Indiana is Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State, not exactly a trio of powerhouses.
But as Cignetti said, it's a bit of an "SEC scheduling philosophy."
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Alabama plays Louisiana-Monroe and Eastern Illinois. Georga gets Marshall, Austin Peay and Charlotte. LSU's schedule includes Lousiana Tech, SE Louisiana and Western Kentucky. You get the idea.
Indiana's season will be determined by how it plays against the Big Ten, anyway.
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