LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There's been national noise this week about Indiana canceling a future home-and-home series with Virginia. Sportswriters wagged fingers. Talk shows tut-tutted. You would've thought the Hoosiers had backed out of a bowl game.
Funny, isn't it, how no one seemed to care when Indiana canceled its home-and-home with Louisville last year?
This year's game in that agreement — scheduled for Sept. 6 in Bloomington — would've been a non-conference highlight, at least in these parts. A short drive. A guaranteed sellout. A legitimate early test for both teams. Louisville tried to find a Power 4 replacement. Struck out. You can't make someone dance with you.
What's curious is how quiet the national reaction was. No debate segments. No viral quotes. Just Indiana crossing off Louisville and replacing it with ... Kennesaw State. Or Old Dominion. Or Indiana State. You lose track.
The main reason? Indiana wasn't anybody back then. But now, with a surprise playoff trip under its belt, expectations have changed.
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti wasn't the one who pulled the plug on Louisville but he did sign off on scrapping Virginia. At Big Ten Media Days, he called it "adopting the SEC scheduling philosophy" — a handy talking point, if not exactly accurate. For the record, SEC teams that actually made the College Football Playoff last season didn't do what Indiana is doing.
Texas made the playoff and opens this year at Ohio State. Georgia made it and plays Georgia Tech, which finished ahead of Virginia in the ACC standings. Tennessee made it and opens with Syracuse, also ahead of Virginia. So if Indiana is borrowing from the SEC playbook, it's skipping past the hard chapters.
Cignetti also leans on the grind of a nine-game Big Ten schedule. But let's not pretend every week is a showdown with Michigan or Ohio State.
In fact, for Indiana, none of the games are. The Hoosiers don't play either one this season. According to Phil Steele's preseason rankings, Indiana's schedule sits at No. 58 nationally — the second-easiest in the Big Ten. Only Nebraska's is lower. (Louisville, by contrast, checks in at No. 33.)
The regrettable part is that Indiana's patty-cake non-conference approach might become a trend. The Hoosiers dropped Louisville, played one of the softest non-league slates in the country, went 11-1, and made the College Football Playoff — without facing a ranked opponent until just before Thanksgiving, and losing when they finally did. Threading that needle will be more the exception than the rule. But many will try.
Indiana shouldn't be one of them. It has nothing to apologize for after its stunning success last season. That makes ducking Virginia look even worse.
If you're Louisville — or Indiana — these kinds of games need to be played. Win or lose, those legit Power 4 matchups are not playoff dealbreakers. No matter your league, they help prepare you for the games that matter more.
When Indiana bailed, Louisville lost a competitive, regional, résumé-boosting game — for the second year in a row. Jeff Brohm said the Cardinals called Tennessee when Nebraska dropped them. Called Ole Miss when Wake Forest canceled. No takers.
Indiana might've beaten Louisville last season. It nearly did the year before with a much worse team. But maybe that game — win or lose — would've helped Louisville be more prepared later when it went to Notre Dame or faced Miami or SMU.
"I have my own opinion," Brohm told ESPN Radio's Drew Deener, when asked why teams were backing away from Louisville in April. "But I don't want to call anyone out."
Fair enough. But the message is clear: Louisville is willing to play anyone. The calls are being made. But in the current climate, a rising program is a risky program — and a lot of schools aren't looking for risk.
Brohm made the point again at ACC Media Days. That old Howard Schnellenberger mindset — play the best, anywhere, anytime — still drives Louisville scheduling. Georgia comes to Louisville next season. Texas A&M starts a home-and-home in 2028. Notre Dame is coming back. The games will be there.
But this year? The game that should be there — a border battle with the Hoosiers — isn't.
And nobody outside Louisville seems to mind.
Quick sips
- Good news for Deion Sanders on the cancer front -- and inspiring news on how he handled his fight against bladder cancer. Read it here and watch my Sports Page commentary here.
- Brohm has opened the first seven football Louisville practices of the season to the public. Get the schedule here.
The Last Drop
"We figured we would just adopt SEC scheduling philosophy, you know. Some people don't like it. I'm more focused in on those nine conference games."
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti
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