BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Curt Cignetti is up for one of the nation’s top coaching awards following Indiana’s 6-0 start.

On Wednesday, Cignetti was one of 27 coaches named to the 2024 Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award watch list.

According to the news release, “the award, given each January to a college football coach, recognizes contributions that make the sport better for athletes and fans alike by demonstrating grit, integrity and a winning approach to coaching and life – both on and off the field.”

Cignetti could receive an annual bonus of $100,000 if he wins the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award, or any of the following National Coach of the Year honors: Associated Press, Sporting News, Walter Camp, Maxwell Football Club, or ABC/ESPN. There is a maximum of $100,000 for this category in any one season, according to the memorandum of understanding obtained by Hoosiers on SI through public records requests.

If Cignetti is awarded the Big Ten Coach of the Year Award by the coaches or media panel, he could receive an additional annual bonus of $50,000. There is a maximum of $50,000 for this category in any one season. For more details on Cignetti’s contract, click here.

The Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award is given annually by the American Heart Association, and honors the Hall of Fame coach who won six national championships at Alabama and died from a heart attack in 1983. The 39th winner will be announced on Jan. 22.

Here’s the full watch list.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Big Ten Conference

Big 12 Conference

Group of Five Conferences, Independent & Pac-12

Southeastern Conference

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) – The Fighting Irish hit the road this weekend to take on a 5-2 Georgia Tech team at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and the MLS’ Atlanta United.

Remarkably, this will be their first time leaving the state of Indiana since the first week of the season.

Notre Dame’s two road games this season have been quite successful. They kicked off the year with a hard-fought 23-13 win over Texas A&M in a lively atmosphere, followed by a dominant 66-7 win against Purdue in West Lafayette.

As the Irish prepare for another road matchup against a Georgia Tech team fresh off a big win over North Carolina, head coach Marcus Freeman is well aware of the environment they will face.

“I think every week my message can be tailored to the opponent or where we are,” Freeman explained. “I think it’s important that our guys have an idea of the environment we’re going in. I don’t want any surprises. I wanted them to know exactly what it would be like going into College Station, exactly what it would be like going into West Lafayette, and what it’s going to be like going into Mercedes-Benz to play Georgia Tech. I think that’s so important that they have a visual representation of where they’re going so they don’t spend time looking around wasting time, ‘where’s my family, where’s our sideline?’ Often when I’m there, I remind them we’ve been there before. Hopefully it’s a mindset that they’re comfortable with the environment we’re going to.”

Notre Dame will follow this road trip with a trip to another NFL stadium next weekend. The Irish will travel to East Rutherford, N.J., in two weeks to face rival Navy at MetLife Stadium, the home of the New York Giants and New York Jets.

Therefore, it’s only fitting that we make this the subject of our Game Day Question of the Week. Let us know which NFL stadium you want to see the Irish play at next before the poll closes on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. EDT.

Copyright 2024 WNDU. All rights reserved.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana’s women’s basketball team is included in the Associated Press preseason women’s basketball poll for the sixth consecutive season … but only just.

The Associated Press preseason poll was released on Tuesday. Indiana was ranked 25th in the poll, beating rival Iowa by nine points to make it into the Top 25.

Defending national champion South Carolina is the No. 1 team in the poll, receiving 27 out of a possible 30 first-place votes.

Indiana was the sixth-highest rated Big Ten school in the Top 25 as the Big Ten only trailed the Southeastern Conference (eight teams) in poll representation. No. 3 Southern California, No. 5 UCLA, No. 14 Ohio State, No. 18 Maryland and No. 23 Nebraska are the other Big Ten teams in the Top 25. Iowa, Illinois and Michigan State did not make the Top 25, but received at least one vote.

In addition to Big Ten opponents in the poll, the Hoosiers could also play No. 12 Baylor and No. 15 North Carolina in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas in November.

In the six-year period where Indiana has been in the preseason Top 25, the previous lowest spot the Hoosiers occupied was the No. 24 spot in 2020. During Teri Moren’s coaching reign, the Hoosiers have been included in the preseason poll on seven occasions. Indiana was not in the preseason Top 25 prior to Moren’s tenure at all.

Indiana returns starters Yarden Garzon, Chloe Moore-McNeil and Sydney Parrish. Help from the transfer portal comes in the form of Penn State transfer guard Shay Ciezki and Tennessee post player Karoline Striplin. Lilly Meister is expected to play regularly after Mackenzie Holmes exhausted her eligibility.

The Hoosiers return nearly all of their bench contributors as Lexus Bargesser, Lenee Beaumont, Juli LaMendola and Henna Sandvik are back for more.

Indiana opens its regular season against Brown on Nov. 4.

Here’s the entire AP Top 25 poll. First-place votes are in paranthesees. The number total is points compiled via voting, not the total of voters. A total of 25 points are awarded for a first-place vote, one point for a 25th place vote with all values in-between:

1. South Carolina (27), 745 poll points.

2. Connecticut (2), 708.

3. USC (1), 697.

4. Texas, 641.

5. UCLA, 628.

6. Notre Dame, 614.

7. LSU, 549.

8. Iowa State, 521.

9. North Carolina State, 510.

10. Oklahoma, 441.

11. Duke, 439.

12. Baylor, 422.

13. Kansas State, 390.

14. Ohio State, 372.

15. North Carolina, 285.

16. West Virginia, 277.

17. Louisville, 250.

18. Maryland, 227.

19. Florida State, 191.

20. Ole Miss, 165.

21. Creighton, 152.

22. Kentucky, 108.

23. Nebraska, 106.

24. Alabama, 67.

25. Indiana, 46.

Receiving votes (numbers reflect point totals received for votes, not the number of votes): Iowa 37, TCU 30, Utah 24, Illinois 23, Stanford 17, Michigan State 16, Gonzaga 16, Vanderbilt 12, South Dakota State 7, Miami (Fla.) 4, Tennessee 3, Fairfield 3, Middle Tennessee State 3, Georgia Tech 2, Syracuse 1, Princeton 1.