Indiana football didn’t just adjust to modern college football — it sprinted past the rest of the sport while everyone else was still arguing about what the rules should be. In an era where the transfer portal and NIL have turned roster-building into a year-round marketplace, the Hoosiers acted like a serious operator: identify the new reality, fund it, and execute it with speed and clarity. That’s why what’s happening in Bloomington feels like a case study in the sport’s next phase — and why so many programs are about to copy it.

The “secret” isn’t complicated, it’s just uncomfortable for traditionalists: money plus proven production beats hope and patience. If you have real resources — and yes, having a high-profile backer like Mark Cuban doesn’t hurt — you can stop pretending the rebuild has to take three recruiting cycles. Instead of rolling the dice on 18-year-olds and waiting two years for them to develop, you go shopping for veterans who have already shown they can play at this level. You’re not projecting. You’re purchasing evidence. Guys who have started, produced, stayed healthy, handled pressure, and put legit tape on film against legit competition. That’s a faster path to competence, depth, and confidence.

Curt Cignetti and the people running Indiana’s operation deserve real credit because they didn’t just participate — they optimized. They treated roster construction like a front office. They prioritized older, game-ready bodies, raised the floor immediately, and built a team that looks like it belongs. No fake “we’re young but excited about the future” energy. Just functional football, now. And that’s not criticism — it’s genius. They saw the opening and exploited it quicker and better than everyone else by a wide margin.

But here’s the catch: what’s brilliant for Indiana today could be corrosive for the sport tomorrow. If this becomes the blueprint — and it will — the portal gets even more chaotic than it already is. The incentive structure pushes players to treat every season like a contract year, because it basically is. Improve and there’s always a better offer. Struggle and you might be replaced by a veteran rental. The old idea of “building a program” starts to look like nostalgia more than a strategy.

College football is thriving right now — ratings, money, relevance, all of it. But thriving systems still need leadership. Without regulation and guardrails, the sport risks turning into a constant bidding war with no stability, no continuity, and fewer reasons for fans to invest emotionally in a roster that reshuffles annually. Indiana is playing the game exactly as it exists. The bigger question is whether college football can survive long-term if everyone plays it that way.