Curt Cignetti took Indiana from overlooked outsiders to undefeated national champions. But the celebration is over, and the real test begins now. While the Hoosiers have made key additions for another title push, Paul Finebaum remains firmly against the idea of a repeat.

“I think they’re still a playoff team, 10 and two at the worst, but that’s still not worthy of being number one or number two,” Paul Finebaum said on ESPN’s First Take on August 24. “So, I understand Indiana graduates all over the country are now starting to sound like Ohio State graduates and Alabama graduates and Notre Dame graduates, but slow down a little bit. Okay, IU, you’ve had your day. You’ll have some fun, but you’re not winning the national championship this year.”

Why did Paul Finebaum have to say this when the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll ranks the defending champions as the sixth-best team heading into the offseason? Well, the veteran CFB analyst has a simple question: Who will replace Fernando Mendoza? While Josh Hoover has proved his worth as a valuable QB, Finebaum is not convinced that the former TCU Horned Frog will be as refined as Fernando Mendoza.

“Josh Hoover, he is not going to be Fernando Mendoza. I think everybody can bank on that,” said Finebaum.

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While Hoover threw for 9,629 yards, 71 touchdowns, and 33 interceptions in his career, he has yet to prove his worth as a replacement for Mendoza, who was much more of a complete player than him.

“I just don’t want to hear it,” Finebaum said on his show earlier this month. “The smart move for me would be just to crawl off and say, ‘Oh, Indiana’s great.’ You replace Mendoza with this guy from TCU, and you expect to have the same result?”

But Indiana fans can point out that Mendoza was facing similar narratives before the 2025 season. No one was banking on the No. 1 overall pick to lead the Hoosiers to a Big Ten title and the national championship. The QB was also helped by the pieces that Cignetti put around him, including the Indiana O-line.

While Josh Hoover is one part of the problem, Finebaum believes the Hoosiers have become a serious threat. But with weaker opponents early on, the real test begins as Indiana’s schedule intensifies and the competition gets tougher. After facing North Texas and Western Kentucky, the Hoosiers will enter the Big Ten arena against Northwestern before road trips to Rutgers and Nebraska, setting up major tests against Ohio State and Michigan.

Cignetti has shown that he knows how to turn Indiana into a contender. However, will he be able to maintain that same momentum after losing arguably the most influential player in program history, along with several other key contributors from last year’s championship team?