I admit I think I am. It seems like they just walked in and took over. A&M should've been the one playing for national championship.

Dammit, beat me to it

Nuts. They have 1 whole good year. And it's like Indiana is the Alabama dynasty. It's just dumb.

Recall: Kansas years ago. A broken clock is right twice a day.

i have to tip my hat to them and it gives me hope. if that ****ty program can make a run one day maybe we can. it is clear and i have felt this way for a long time but it's coaching and having a great qb. they have both.

Not jealous, but I will admit to envy. Like all of us here, I am still waiting for A&M to get to a national title game. I sure as hell never thought I'd see the day when INDIANA is playing for a national championship in anything other than basketball, but particularly never football. Tip of the hat to them for what they have done this year, peaking at the exact right time as evidenced by the two blowouts in the CFP.

But regardless of the outcome of the next game, the question is - can they maintain this?

Heck yeah

Their fans do not deserve the success they are enjoying.

My mom/dad live in Indiana. Visited this Christmas, fairly laughable all the IU flags popping up everywhere out of nowhere. Brother in law, who attended IU, is also puffing the chest about them, when I'm pretty sure he didn't attend games when he attended there.

So from that sense, call it jealousy, annoyed... whatever.. I'm rooting for Miami in the final.

I'm glad IU is there. They represent what a good coach, smart admin, and NIL spending should look like.

If they start the resurgence in basketball? The Hoosiers will a be a house hold name again. Which is nuts considering winning a basketball championship would probably mean more there. But we focus on baseball here after football.

100+ teams are, and specifically 66 teams in P4 conferences are, it's not unique to aTm.

Aston04 said:

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Their fans do not deserve the success they are enjoying.

My mom/dad live in Indiana. Visited this Christmas, fairly laughable all the IU flags popping up everywhere out of nowhere. Brother in law, who attended IU, is also puffing the chest about them, when I'm pretty sure he didn't attend games when he attended there.

So from that sense, call it jealousy, annoyed... whatever.. I'm rooting for Miami in the final.

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This isn't accurate. I live in Bloomington, the IU flags that are up now have been up all year around town. They have a lot to learn about creating a big time college football atmosphere on gameday, but in terms of the people, they love their university just like we do.

I wear my Aggie gear pretty regularly, and haven't had anyone make a jackass comment about how we washed out early, or about how Indiana is better than A&M. 3 years living in Austin was an unsufferable experience (Cart McCry era) of having t-shirt sips not just root for Texas, but actively hassle Aggies. Most of the people I talk to have been very humble about the sudden emergence of Indiana football.

I was talking about South bend area..

Aston04 said:

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I was talking about South bend area..

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That seems more logical there since they do have the t-shirt domer contingent in that area. I can see some of them swapping out t-shirts for an IU one.

Not jealous...maybe in a bit of shock as it's effin Indiana....think about that, Indiana. I'm ok with the blue blood fading away (hoping not to see the Bama's, UM's, OSUs, USCs, etc. ever back at the top). Now, also hate to see UM turning the corner as guarantee we don't want thug U coming back to life.

So IU Coach/staff matters esp. if team is bought into their defined culture. Cignetti definitely had a good foundation when it seemed like 1/2 his JMU squad transferred with him that first year to set 'his culture' immediately (frankly, if that didn't happen, he'd be on the same sched as Elko IMO). His ability to win with lesser stars has been impressive, but definitely mitigated via older more experienced players (w that avg age of 23 - oldest squaed in P5 with tons of experience) and 'no drama' prima donnas. Elko's first year was a closet cleaning (of highly paid self boasting super stars) before starting to 'build his culture'.

Mendoza has been miraculous on the spectrum, and either Curt C can find the right ones or they just found the kid to make it happen (right time, right place).

The irony is now IU is picking up 4 stars and some potential 5 stars that ol Curt says they don't take unless they fit his culture. We shall see.

Bottom line here is that Cignetti was a home run hire that a lot of folks whiffed on. The turnaround last year was nothing short of phenomenal, then to improve this year even more is incredible. I am a little envious, but I still think Elko was a good hire and we will have even more success (than we have had) soon.

Also, I'm not sure how the Aggie faithful would have reacted to the wholesale turn over of players that Indiana went through... although winning takes care of a LOT.

infinity ag said:

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Guys, wait till next year!

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Been wait'in since 1971.
How many years is that now?

Neither jealous nor envious, I am aggravated that when all eyes are on the program and the lights get brightest Aggie football is consistently unable to seize the opportunity and win.

As a side note, if it was Purdue winning a bunch... I would be super happy for them... They have a loyal committed fanbase, starving for success.. like A&M. They would deserve it

Reno Hightower said:

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I am aggravated that when all eyes are on the program and the lights get brightest Aggie football is consistently unable to seize the opportunity and win.

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ITS EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. 1-10 (or 1-11) when Gameday is here. (Gameday being representative of the "big game."

I just want A&M to be competitive in those games.

Obviously, or A&M would have won a national championship since 39.

I did grad school at IU. Football games were a joke. They lived and breathed basketball (and thrown chairs). That I should live to see the day when Indiana is a football power and we are becoming a basketball school...

IU started having success when Pennix was QB and Cignetti was working there along with DeBoer. They took a step back when Pennix transferred, but getting Cignetti back was absolutely the game-changer.

Bison said:

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I did grad school at IU. Football games were a joke. They lived and breathed basketball (and thrown chairs). That I should live to see the day when Indiana is a football power and we are becoming a basketball school...

IU started having success when Pennix was QB and Cignetti was working there along with DeBoer. They took a step back when Pennix transferred, but getting Cignetti back was absolutely the game-changer.

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Cignetti never coached at IU prior to last year, and he has never coached with DeBoer

Wabs said:

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I've always been told we were the big sleeping giant. Turns out….

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We are the big loafing giant

I love the fact Big 10 fans are hanging their success on it and talking smack about the SEC. Besided IU which one of their teams was good?

maroongoon95 said:

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Every year in the past 50 ( recent Aggie football history) years we claw away just to try to get like a 8 or 9 year win, very rarely getting a 10 year win, with the best of everything; stadium, resources, money, fan base, band, traditions, loudest stadium, ya da ya da ya da. In one year, Indiana , the all time crappiest big 10 team in the history of college football, is playing for the Natty next week. That hurts. And is baffling.

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While a common misconception here, we do not have the best stadium, resources, money, fan base, traditions, etc. We're probably top ten, which I agree makes it frustrating that we pretty much never end up there.