Indiana's Curt Cignetti sent cautious repeat national championship warning from Joel Klatt

Indiana's Curt Cignetti sent cautious repeat national championship warning from Joel Klatt originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Indiana Hoosiers celebrated their championship festivities Saturday in the five days following their 27-21 win vs. the Miami Hurricanes to complete their perfect 16-0 season.

The transition to this fall, though, has already begun. At least Fox Sports' Joel Klatt has already started turning the page, ranking the five best teams in 2026. While the Hoosiers were certainly on that list, they did not crack Klatt's No. 1 spot. Instead, they were No. 3.

“This is meant to be praise, Indiana is gonna be right back at the top of college football again,” Klatt said on "The Joel Klatt Show." "I couldn't put them at number one, largely because they don’t have their own returning starting quarterback."

Klatt is correct, as the Hoosiers tabbed former TCU Horned Frogs quarterback Josh Hoover to replace former soon-to-be projected No. 1 overall draft pick Fernando Mendoza.

Klatt said Hoover is a good fit, but it may be tough to duplicate what Mendoza did this past season.

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“I know they didn't have a returning starting quarterback at the start of this year and won the national championship, I get it," Klatt said. "I know that Josh Hoover coming in from the transfer portal is gonna fit Curt Cignetti and this offense perfectly."

Although largely positive, Klatt's message is simple: it's hard to repeat.

"What's going to be difficult is for them to replace some of those real core JMU transfer guys that have been there throughout the entirety of this run," Klatt said.

"They prioritize production over potential. We have to trust what they've got going on," Klatt said.

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We'll see how close Klatt comes to being right, as it seems the Hoosiers will continuously remain in the title hunt moving forward.

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