FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff is at Bloomington, and Dave Portnoy has landed at the Rock Stadium for Indiana’s matchup against UCLA. The city is lit for the game, with fans’ excitement clearly buzzing in the air, or rather outside the pub, Jimmy John’s, where people are gathered outside the establishment.

The Upstairs Pub shared a video of the frenzied crowd lined up outside the local pub, giving us a glimpse of the electrifying crowd in the city. Dave Portnoy has a two-word reaction to that: “Holy S—,” he wrote on his X handle. The comment section was lit with responses. One wrote, “Breakfast club hits different when you’re winning! Go Hoosiers. Another person commented. “They must really love Jimmy John’s in Indiana.” Earlier, Portnoy shared another tweet with his followers.

“I love how my hotel already has shit named after Cignetti,” he wrote on X as he landed at his hotel in Bloomington. Well, Cignetti’s craze is crazy..is’t it? Moreover, Big Noon Kickoff is hyping up the Indiana crowd, along with the already energized fans. “Welcome, everybody. We appreciate y’all for joining us for the Big Noon Kickoff. I’m here with my boy, Hoosier the Bison. Let’s get it, man, let’s get this crowd fired up, baby,” says Mark Ingram II, riling up the crowd as chants of IU fill the air.

Presently, according to the DraftKings Sportsbook, the Indiana vs UCLA spread is at -26.5 in the Hoosiers’ favor. Given Curt Cignetti’s undefeated record so far, the people of Bloomington are excited for another win, as evident from the video. Although UCLA is hitting the road as underdogs, don’t be surprised if they rake in the glory.

With his past back-to-back success, Nico Iamaleava has bounced back. Even Cignetti is cautious and praised the roster. “UCLA. We’re playing a 3-0 football team that’s undefeated. That’s 3-0 in the conference,” Cignetti said to open up his Monday media availability. UCLA is actually 3-4 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten, and the Bruins have three straight wins under interim coach Tim Skipper. Let’s not forget, they had a 0-3 record and let go of their head coach, DeShaun Foster, offensive coordinator, Tino Sunseri, and defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe.

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Kevin Coyle, who left Syracuse to give a turnabout to the Bruins’ defense, has seen impressive results. From giving up 36.0 points per game to 21.0 points, and that too within three games, his defensive scheme is working. And Cignetti is taking into account these past three wins against pre-season No. 2 Penn State, Michigan State Spartans, and Maryland.

“More of a threat:” Indiana analyst on UCLA

UCLA Wire’s Alec Keezer is cautious like Cignetti after the Bruins’ success over the past weeks. As he says, “UCLA poses more of a threat than I think most Indiana fans want to let on,” per UCLA Wire. The reason? The Bruins’ run game. “It’s a quarterback who can create with his legs.” Even ESPN’s Andy Reid laid it out simply that Iamaleava’s rushing ability was the real separator between the first four losses and the Penn State win.

Cignetti added. “Since they have retooled their staff and now have their new defensive coordinator and offensive staff in place, very impressive football team.” Despite an upsetting start, the head coach views UCLA as an unbeaten team, owing to its last three victories. For Indiana itself, which had been faring poorly before Cignetti ‘s arrival and had the grandest revival in just a year, the Hooisers are not underestimating their opponent.

Surprisingly, last year, it was Indiana’s 42-13 win over the Bruins that led the program to enter the national spotlight. Although Indiana ranks No. 3 in team sacks over 7 games, with 26 sacks, along with ranking No. 4 in scoring defense and No. 7 in total defense, they are not taking this matchup lightly.