Indiana

Indiana’s Curt Cignetti Wants Changes to College Football Calendar, Seeks Commissioner

Published

7 months ago

December 26, 2025

Indiana’s Curt Cignetti Wants Changes to College Football Calendar, Seeks Commissioner

As Indiana football readies for perhaps the biggest game in school history, the program must have at least partial attention on the day immediately after.

The No. 1 Hoosiers face No. 9 Alabama at 4 p.m. ET Jan. 1 in the Rose Bowl as part of the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. Eight hours after kickoff in Pasadena, Calif., the NCAA’s lone transfer portal window opens. It spans from Jan. 2-16.

Indiana, with one of college football’s oldest rosters, will have to re-load in some capacity during the portal period. Yet if the Hoosiers win the Rose Bowl and play in the Peach Bowl on Jan. 9, they’ll spend at least half the transfer window preparing to play in the College Football Playoff semifinals while juggling portal recruiting. The process repeats if Indiana advances to the national championship.

To Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, the timing of events — be it the College Football Playoff games or the opening of the transfer window — needs attention. He feels his belief is in the majority among others within the coaching profession.

“I definitely think the calendar could be improved, and that would be unanimous amongst the coaches,” Cignetti told reporters Monday over Zoom. “And whether you got to move the start of the regular season up a week and then start playing in the playoffs when the season ends, so there’s a little bit better time to devote to high school recruiting and portal recruiting.

“We’re all looking, I think, for that solution.”

Cignetti issued a similar message earlier this season in an Oct. 20 press conference. He noted the spring transfer portal window has been valuable to Indiana, which landed cornerback D’Angelo Ponds and defensive tackles Tyrique Tucker and C.J. West after spring practice in 2024 and defensive ends Kellan Wyatt and Stephen Daley in 2025.

Now, there’s no spring transfer window, and the winter portal entrance date has been moved backward.

In 2024, players were free to enter the portal from Dec. 9-28. Cignetti noted it hurt a few schools who were still playing — eventual national champion Ohio State, which lost backup quarterback Devin Brown to the portal, among them — but now, there’s an odd window where players can announce their intentions to enter the portal and, unless their coach has been fired or left for another job, have to wait until Jan. 2.

“The rules, the way they are right now, I hope we take a good, hard look at what we’re doing,” Cignetti said in October. “I don’t quite understand, all these players are making decisions pretty much the end of November, what they’re doing. Then the whole month of December’s dead. Like, what are you supposed to do those 30 days, right?”

Cignetti implied the previous period, which allowed more contact, visits and recruiting in December, worked much better for a vast majority of schools — even if it was an inconvenience in some respects for College Football Playoff teams.

“I am not a big fan of what we’re doing,” Cignetti said. “To me, having the January 2nd portal date, like we start school January (12th). Doesn’t make a lot of sense. I don’t think the rules should be changed for two or three coaches that really had a problem with it because they were still playing.

“I mean, I think you got to look at the other schools, the other 75 or how many there are, P4 schools also.”

So, what’s the solution? Cignetti pitched the idea of, effectively, adding a college football commissioner.

“What you’re dealing with in college football is, just, you don’t have one guy in charge,” Cignetti said Dec. 22. “If you had one person calling the shots, I think it would be a lot cleaner. So, hopefully we’ll make some progress in that regard.”

During Indiana’s 12-day gap between earning the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff and learning the outcome between No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 9 Alabama, Cignetti spent time focusing on the Hoosiers’ future rosters.

Cignetti said he had 95% of the necessary retention conversations with players who have decisions to make about their future. Much of his attention, he said, was turned toward the 2027 roster.

But for Cignetti, who noted in July at Big Ten Media Day he’s also the Hoosiers’ general manager, the transfer portal is an unavoidable swimming pool of talent — one Indiana will be dipping its toes into once more this winter.

And much to Cignetti’s chagrin, the Hoosiers will be forced to do so immediately upon returning from Pasadena.

“That’s my thing right now,” Cignetti said in October. “You just don’t get off the portal in one year, two years. There’s going to be portal needs this year.”

Source link

Indiana

Statewide Silver Alert issued for two missing Indiana children

Published

3 hours ago

July 16, 2026

Press Room

Statewide Silver Alert issued for two missing Indiana children

RIPLEY COUNTY, Ind. (WSBT) — A statewide Silver Alert has been issued for two young children in Indiana.

Police in Ripley County, southeast of Indianapolis, are looing for the children who may be siblings.

The first child is 3-year-old Aaliyah Buckingham.

She was last seen wearing a pink cat shirt and tie-dye shorts.

The younger child is 1-year-old Shane Buckingham, last seen in a red shirt and diaper.

Police think both are with 45-year-old Timothy Buckingham, who was last seen driving a brown GMC truck.

Timothy is described as a 6′ 3″ white man weighing 225 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.

Photo of Timothy Buckingham provided by Indiana State Police

Police have not confirmed the relationship of the three, or why the children are believed to be in danger.

Anyone who sees the three are asked to contact the nearest police department.

Source link

Indiana

Indianapolis firefighter hospitalized after battling fire at vacant home

Published

15 hours ago

July 15, 2026

Press Room

Indianapolis firefighter hospitalized after battling fire at vacant home

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A firefighter for the Indianapolis Fire Department was sent to the hospital Wednesday after battling a fire at a vacant house.

According to a Facebook post made by IFD, the fire happened around 10:15 a.m. at a house on Bluff Rd. IFD says that there were several complications, including limited access to fire hydrants and “interior hoarder conditions” that IFD says was due to squatters.

The injured firefighter received “slight injury,” the Facebook post said.

It took over an hour and a half to get the fire under control, according to IFD, and another hour to put out all the remaining hot spots in the building.

According to IFD, the cause of the fire is currently unknown. Their Fire Investigations Unit is working on figuring out what caused the fire.

Source link

Indiana

IHSAA football: 10 sleeper teams to watch in Central Indiana for the 2026 season

Published

1 day ago

July 15, 2026

Press Room

IHSAA football: 10 sleeper teams to watch in Central Indiana for the 2026 season

The high school football season is a little more than five weeks away. We take a look today at 10 potential sleeper teams for the 2026 season from Central Indiana. To keep things consistent, we considered only teams that finished last season with a .500 record or below.

I had a few hits in this category last year, including Avon (3-7 to 6-5), Carmel (3-7 to 9-2) and Indian Creek (5-6 to 8-4). Here are teams poised for an uptick this season:

Brebeuf Jesuit

A drop off last year was not unexpected for the Braves, who lost a lot of talent from a team that finished 8-3 in 2024. Brebeuf started 0-6 on its way to a 3-8 season, which was its first losing record since going 4-6 in 2016.

There were some mitigating circumstances around last season’s record, extending beyond inexperience. The Braves lost starting quarterback Keegan Bouwkamp to an injury in the first game of the season, though he was able to return to pass for 1,004 yards and 15 touchdowns in just four games. His return as a senior will allow to senior Carter Cosgrove to return to receiver full time. They are part of a group of nine starters returning to an offense that did produce 26 points per game last season and will be anchored by UConn commit Krystian Oakley on the line.

Coach Matt Geske’s team also returns six starters on defense, including junior Joshua Rogers (42 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, five sacks). There are some new games on the schedule, including Mt. Vernon, Scecina, Columbus North and Cardinal Ritter.

North Central

It might seem like a small thing but North Central finishing 2-8 last season did represent a significant jump after three consecutive 0-10 seasons. In fact, a two-win season is the best for the Panthers since going 6-4 in 2020.

Now, can North Central take another step forward in Collin Coffer’s second season as coach? The Panthers ended a 32-game losing streak in the season opener last year with a 35-13 victory over Brebeuf, then defeated Harrison (West Lafayette) 41-28 in Week 5. If North Central is going to take the next step, it will need to make headway against Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference opponents (North Central’s most-recent MIC win was in 2021).

There is plenty of hope coming into the season with an offense led by junior quarterback Chase Grove (1,901 passing yards, 19 TDs) and an experienced group of receivers. Most of the defense also returns, including seniors Kolton Ablitar-Conner and Jameson Hittle.

Zionsville

The Eagles were 3-7 last year, but four of those losses came by 10 points or less. Zionsville has been stuck on either three or four wins every year since going 9-6 and reaching the Class 5A state finals in 2021.

There are reasons to believe coach Scott Turnquist’s team can make a move in 2026. The offensive line brings back Ball State commit Eli Wildoner and Ben Maxey and has a rising star in junior tight end Theo Schott, who caught 26 passes for 305 yards and three TDs last season. Junior quarterback Finn Giles transferred from Carmel and will battle for the starting spot with junior Mac Wright.

The defense has talent, too, led by senior Ball State preferred walk-on Roman Barth on the line, along with junior Peter Monohan. The secondary returns one of the team’s top tacklers in junior Gabe Vinatieri. Zionsville starts with Pike and Lawrence Central before getting into Hoosier Crossroads Conference play.

Martinsville

The Artesians did drop off from a 12-2 regional championship season in 2024 but still managed to win a sectional title and finish 6-7 last year with a relatively inexperienced team.

Coach Brian Dugger’s group will still be a little bit on the young side in some areas, but there is quite a bit coming back. Leading the way on offense will be senior quarterback Chase Davis (2,510 passing yards, 24 TDs), senior receiver Landon Cazee (95 catches, 1,280 yards, 13 TDs) and senior lineman Kyson Bunton.

The defense loses some key pieces to graduation, though senior linebackers Joel Sumner (67 tackles, five TFLs) and Nate LaFary (47 tackles in eight games) are among those returning. The path to a sectional title became a lot more difficult with Roncalli now in the mix. The Artesians open the season with Bedford North Lawrence and Bloomington South before getting into Mid-State Conference play with new league member Bloomington North in Week 3.

Hamilton Heights

Caleb Small comes over to coach his alma mater after coaching at Northwestern two years ago and Kokomo last season. The Huskies were 4-6 last year with a first-round sectional exit to Guerin Catholic, but there is a lot of experience returning on both sides of the ball.

The Huskies should be strong at the skill positions with senior running back A.J. Flanagan (813 rushing yards, seven TDs; 20 catches, 181 yards) returning, along with senior quarterback Drew Woodruff (1,742 passing yards, 13 TDs).

The defense should be strong in front seven with junior linebackers Grayden Dahlstrom and Landon Hickman among the returnees. The Huskies are coming off back-to-back 4-win seasons after going 11-1 in 2023 and making a run to the sectional title game. Small has a lot of experience on his staff, including eight coaches who have coached at the Class 6A level.

The sectional no longer includes Guerin Catholic or Bishop Chatard – the two programs that have knocked the Huskies out the past six seasons.

Mt. Vernon

This might seem like a lot to ask after Mt. Vernon finished 0-10 last season. Coach Mike Kirschner returns after getting the Marauders’ program a jolt from 2018 to 2020, helping to set the stage for a run to the Class 4A state title in 2021.

Can Kirschner help to make it happen again? Mt. Vernon allowed 46.2 points per game last season, so a major overhaul will be needed on that side of the ball. There is some experienced there, including senior James Battee on the line and Zach Spalding and B.J. Johnson at linebacker.

The offense returns four starters on the line, along with Arizona State baseball recruit Mason Meyer (1,517 passing yards, 11 TDs; 420 rushing yards, six TDs) at quarterback and Johnson at receiver. Instead of Noblesville and Franklin, Mt. Vernon will open with Kokomo and Brebeuf Jesuit before getting into Hoosier Heritage Conference play.

Monrovia

The Bulldogs struggled to a 4-7 record last year after back-to-back 9-3 seasons. Coach Andy Olson’s team could be in line for a bounce back season with three top rushers returning in junior Ryder Bain (978 yards, 12 TDs), senior Coewen Stinson (957 yards, 10 TDs) and junior Gavin Wolsiffer (746 yards, six TDs). Monrovia averaged 261 rushing yards per game last season.

The defense struggled last season, especially late. The Bulldogs lost 57-56 to Heritage Christian in the second round of the sectional. The good news is that Monrovia returns plenty of experience on that side of the ball, including senior Gauge Tolan (123 tackles).

Monrovia has not had back-to-back losing seasons since 2019 and 2020.

Cardinal Ritter

Ritter has been competitive the past three seasons under coach Levar Johnson but have not been able to break through with a winning season since 2020. The Raiders were 3-7 last year with wins over Tech, Greenwood Christian and Covenant Christian.

Can Ritter get over the top with a winning season in 2026? Junior linebacker Bam McCullough (99 tackles, eight TFLs, 3 ½ sacks) is a Division I talent and will be joined at the linebacker spot by junior Ve’Sean Miles (81 tackles, 6 ½ TFLs). Ritter has three other returning starters on defense.

The offense has three returning starters on the offensive line (eight overall) and several talented skill position players, including junior running back Tavien Fox (659 rushing yards, nine TDs), who is moving back from quarterback. Senior Renaldo Thomas (534 rushing yards, three TDs) also has experience. Junior Jordyn Graham, a transfer from Crispus Attucks, is the likely starter at quarterback.

Greenwood

It is a new era for the Woodmen in the Hoosier Legends Conference, where 4A Greenwood will be one of the larger schools in the eight-team league. The Woodmen were 2-8 last year, a drop after going 6-6 two years ago and 4-8 last season.

Greenwood will have experience at the skill positions on offense, led by Lindenwood commit Benjamin Hommell at wide receiver (26 catches, 625 yards, eight TDs) and junior running back Leland Morton (596 rushing yards, three TDs). There is some experience up front on defense with Aidyn Wiley on the line and linebackers James Hurley, Damyan Hernandez and Gage Hall.

Areas of concern for Greenwood will be a young offensive line and secondary.

Scecina

The Crusaders were on this list last year and did make a two-win jump, improving from 3-7 to 5-5. Scecina lost in the first round of the sectional, 47-29, to Monrovia in Dan Harris’ second season as coach.

Scecina returns plenty talent and experience at the skill positions, including senior quarterback Bryce McDonald (1,990 passing yards, 21 TDs), senior receiver Tristan Brown (65 catches, 708 yards, six TDs) and senior running back Gavin Connel (578 yards, four TDs). The Crusaders have good size up front but not a lot of experience.

The defense will include some of the same names from the offense, along with Mannie Stevens and C.J. Heard on the line and Kaiden Dugan at inside linebacker.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Get IndyStar’s high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.

Source link