Sports

Inside the Mind of Curt Cignetti, College Football’s Most Relentless Winner

Consider the office desk of Curt Cignetti: organized, fastidious and, upon inspection, clearly the domain of a pre-Internet mind. There is a computer, of course, but more important clues about the makeup of the 65-year-old Indiana football coach are elsewhere on its surface.
It is the workspace of someone who regularly takes up a pen and writes plans and ideas down on paper, as opposed to pounding at a keyboard or tapping on a phone.
On one particular day in May, there are three yellow legal pads on the desk: two off to one side, a pair of reading glasses sitting on top; the other front and center, with a black pen resting on a page of notes arranged in various groupings. The lettering is small and precise—nothing loopy or sloppy here—as if written by an architect.
In one corner of the desk is a more revealing document. It is the Hoosiers’ 2026 schedule, painstakingly handwritten and color coded. Each opponent and its 2025 record are inscribed in black ink; the name of the head coach, his age and his career record are in blue; and what teams each opponent will have faced before taking on the Hoosiers is in red. Is there another head coach in the country who would write this out himself?
Also on the right side of the desk, three 3×5 notecards are taped down. Brief program philosophies are written on them in black ink. Some are commonplace bromides, the type almost every coach in America espouses. But the message on one card stands out:
SOFTNESS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED HERE!
FIND THE EDGE—DAILY/HOURLY
COMMIT ALL AROUND
Cignetti is authoring a new narrative now, the sequel to a masterpiece. Indiana is not just the reigning national champion, coming off the first 16–0 major-college record since the 19th century; it is the most astounding success story in the history of a rigidly hierarchical sport. What had been the losingest FBS program of all time produced one of the greatest seasons of the modern era.
How does anyone follow that?
By approaching this year’s blank page like all the previous years. The routines remain.
Put nose to grindstone. Put focus on every detail. Put plan into action. Put complacency firmly to rest. Put wins on the board. Put the world on notice. Put pen to paper. So let it be written, so let it be done.
Cignetti won so many Coach of the Year awards last season that he doesn’t have adequate office space to display them. One, named after a legend in the sport, is stashed on a side counter next to a box of Starbucks coffee pods. But individual glory doesn’t matter much in Cig’s world view, and what he did last year won’t buy a cup of coffee this year.
“A lot of requests,” Cignetti says of the offseason hoopla. “A lot of people tugging on your time, commercial things, speaking things that come with money. But you say yes to one and you open the door, and so it was pretty much a hard no [except for driving the Indy 500 pace car and visiting the White House]. It’s business as usual in the building.”
You can’t find the edge daily/hourly if you’re looking backward and celebrating yourself. The Hoosiers have clearly arrived as a force in college football, but an internal wariness of what accompanies that arrival remains.
Take wide receiver Nick Marsh, a high-profile, high-dollar transfer from Michigan State. The 6’3″, 213-pound Marsh is an impressive talent, having caught 100 passes in two seasons for the Spartans. But the team went 9–15 in that time, including a pair of blowout losses to Indiana.
When Marsh showed up for spring practice at Indiana wearing gold cleats, Cignetti had an opportunity to send a message. “He learned what getting your ass ripped is all about,” the coach said at the time. “I don’t know if that happened to him very often at Michigan State.”
The situation was handled. Marsh got it. Cignetti moved on.
“The gold cleats were kind of sticking out,” he says. “It wasn’t a big deal.”
Cignetti has mined the transfer portal as well as anyone in the last few seasons. But like his former boss at Alabama, Nick Saban, Cignetti has a resistance to publicly elevating players before they’ve done something in his program. This is the third straight season that Indiana will start an incoming transfer quarterback, and the third straight season that quarterback was not among the Hoosiers to attend Big Ten media days. Senior linebacker Isaiah Jones, senior defensive tackle Tyrique Tucker and senior offensive tackle Carter Smith drew the assignment this year.
“They’re the guys that are back that played winning and productive football,” Cignetti says. “That’s where your leadership begins.”
Fernando Mendoza would go on to win the Heisman Trophy and become the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, but the Cal transfer was hardly a front-and-center media presence until after he’d played his first game for the Hoosiers. Even after Mendoza blossomed into a star, his availability other than for postgame interviews was limited throughout the season. The same will likely be the case with this year’s import QB, Josh Hoover, from TCU.
This was not a new approach for Cignetti, nor has his recent success been a new development. This is who he’s always been, producing remarkably similar teams with remarkably similar attributes across 15 straight winning seasons in four jobs at four levels of college football, from Division II to FCS to mid-major FBS to a Power 4 program.
Team over individual? That mantra goes back much deeper than Marsh’s pair of gold cleats. Take Cignetti’s first team meeting at James Madison after taking over that FCS powerhouse in December 2018.
Cignetti had arrived from Elon, where he’d broken the school’s six-year streak of losing seasons. The biggest win in his two years with the Phoenix? A road upset over JMU, which was ranked No. 2 and riding an 18-game home winning streak.
Dukes quarterback Cole Johnson, who would go on to start two years under Cignetti, remembers the message from that meeting.
“You guys are a team of individuals,” Cignetti said, relaying what he had seen on film and from the opposing sideline. “You’re all about me, all about I.”
“His first thing was to get that out of us,” Johnson says.
In Cignetti’s fifth game at James Madison, the Dukes beat Elon 45–10. For both programs, that represented the year-over-year difference between having Cig and not having Cig.
The 2019 Dukes went 14–2, losing in the FCS championship game to North Dakota State. Like the Cignetti teams that had come before that one, and those that would come after, the statistical profile is a veritable overlay in some key areas.
Turnover Margin
James Madison was a +10 that first season, which actually is not one of the more remarkable advantages in Cignetti’s 15 seasons as a head coach. His last team at his first stop, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, led Division II at +25 in 2016. His ’21 JMU team led FCS at +19. And the ’25 Hoosiers led FBS at +22. For his career, Cignetti is +160 in the stat that correlates most strongly to winning, with just a single season in which the turnover margin was upside down. (Hard to imagine what life was like with Cig in 2014, when his IUP team was a -12 in that category.)
Along the way to last year’s +22, Indiana did something that has never been done by a team that played 14 or more games—it lost just one fumble. That came in the first quarter of the season opener, against Old Dominion. Thereafter, the Hoosiers ran an incomprehensible 1,047 offensive plays without another.
Part of that is luck, with an oblong ball that never bounced the wrong way on the seven other occasions it was loose. But it’s also attributable to the laser focus on minimizing costly errors.
“We preach it,” Cignetti says. “You still got to go out there and do it. You got to remember before you can win the game, you can’t lose the game. And how do you lose the game? Well, turnovers are number one. Those equal points, egregious missed assignments on both sides of the ball, presnap penalties, disasters in the kicking game, that kind of thing.”
Penalties
In nine seasons at the FCS and FBS levels, Cignetti has never had a team finish in the bottom half of the nation in fewest penalty yards per game. More often than not, they’re in the top 30. Elon led the nation in fewest penalty yards in 2018 at 20 per game, and Indiana last year was second only to Army, at 27.6. In no game last season were the Hoosiers flagged for 50 yards in penalties, something not even the Black Knights could say.
Efficient Quarterback Play
When Temple transfer Lenny Williams became Cignetti’s starting quarterback at IUP in 2015, he was a dual-threat player with unpolished passing skills. The coach drilled home the importance of ball security, Williams recalls.
“I know you can play,” Cignetti told him. “Don’t worry about trying to do too much. Keep the ball on our side. Just be efficient. The defense is going to get stops and create turnovers.”
In Williams’s second season, he led the nation in pass efficiency while throwing just one interception. From 2019 to ’21, Cignetti’s JMU quarterbacks were either No. 1 or No. 2 nationally in efficiency (Ben DiNucci was second in ’19, Johnson was first in ’20 and then second in ’21.)
“He always told me that a throwaway is not a bad play,” Johnson says. “Reducing mistakes and keeping you out of bad plays was the emphasis.”
All told, seven straight Cignetti QBs have finished in the top 10 in efficiency at either the FCS or FBS level. Indiana offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan has been with Cignetti for a decade, helping to produce the same results, even as the QB turnover has been brisk.
This is their best enticement for signing a top transfer at that position: In their one and only year under Cignetti and Shanahan, four straight QBs have had their lifetime best seasons statistically. From Todd Centeio in 2022 (a 169.0 efficiency rating, fourth in the nation) to Jordan McCloud in ’23 (165.94, 10th) at JMU to Kurtis Rourke (176.01, second) to Mendoza (182.91, first) at IU, the spikes have been pronounced.
If Hoover is next in line to make a big jump, the result could be spectacular. He’s posted two straight seasons of efficiency marks higher than 150, whereas Mendoza’s high at Cal was 144.59.
“Josh innately really understands how to play quarterback,” Cignetti says. “I think he’s a super smart guy. The position comes very natural to him. He’s got a quick release. Fernando’s three inches taller and 25 pounds heavier, and that’s the biggest difference. But you got a guy that understands how to play quarterback.”
Cignetti understands how to play quarterback, too. He just wasn’t very good at it.
On Sept. 12, 1981, West Virginia opened the season with a 32–18 victory at Virginia. In that game, junior backup QB Curt Cignetti threw a pass that fell incomplete. There was also a run for zero yards. That is the sum total of his varsity collegiate stats.
Cignetti’s father, Frank, was the coach of the Mountaineers from 1976 to ’79. While battling cancer, Frank was fired after Curt’s freshman year. But he retained an administrative job at WVU and had an office in the basketball coliseum. Given his dad’s health situation, Curt chose to stay at the school, remain close to his parents and finish his career there under Don Nehlen, knowing that he had little chance of playing.
“He wasn’t a good athlete, I think he’d be the first to admit that,” says Oliver Luck, the Mountaineers’ starting QB from 1979 to ’81, who went on to play in the NFL, and is the father of former NFL star QB Andrew Luck. “But you could tell he was the son of a coach. He absorbed everything. He was great for me to have on the sideline because he saw everything.
“We all probably predicted he’d go into coaching. But I don’t think any of us would have said he’d win a national championship.”
Cignetti’s career path was indeed set. He started as a graduate assistant at Pittsburgh and wound through four other schools (plus a second stop at Pitt) before landing on Saban’s staff at Alabama in 2007. After four seasons there, he took a step backward to propel his career forward, accepting the job at obscure IUP—where his father had a 20-season Hall of Fame tenure after leaving West Virginia.
Curt Cignetti’s winning began immediately and has never stopped. Did he retain a chip on the shoulder about not getting a powerconference job until age 62? Nobody disputes that. Cignetti’s still finding the edge daily/hourly.
Go back to his handwritten schedule on the desk, the one that notes the age of every opposing head coach. It’s not hard to imagine Cignetti deriving satisfaction from taking so many younger coaches to the woodshed in his 27–2 run at Indiana.
The onetime football graveyard is now full of life and thriving. Along the way, Cignetti transformed himself from an entertaining loudmouth into a figure approaching Bob Knight stature. The blast of bombast that came with his arrival—from “Purdue sucks, but so does Michigan and Ohio State,” to the famed “I win, Google me”—has been toned down and replaced with substance. He got the beatendown Hoosier fan base’s blood pumping with boldness, but winning is the best way to keep the pulse pounding.
The result has been a meteoric ascension to icon status. His famously scowling face is the dominant image on a new mural in downtown Bloomington, and CIGNATTY T-shirts are hot sellers in town. Upland Brewery, which in the spring debuted a “4th & Five Cream Ale” in honor of Mendoza’s immortal touchdown run in the CFP championship game, has publicly promised Cignetti beer for life.
All of that, and the pay raise to a top-of-market $13.2 million a year (and, oh yeah, a recent national State Farm commercial and a star turn on the cover of EA Sports College Football 27), might be enough to ignite a power trip for a regular coach. For Cignetti, it’s all background noise.
Buy a vacation home somewhere? No. Get rid of his prized, ancient turquoise living room recliner? No. He took the family on an offseason vacation to St. Barts in the Caribbean, using his contractual private jet perk, but even there he had a hard time turning off his brain.
Asked for the longest period of time he’d gone during the offseason without thinking about football, Cignetti smiles (really) and says, “Five minutes, maybe 10.” When pressed for a serious answer, he says he might make it a day.
He’s just not good at downtime. Or wasting time. His practices are short and highly focused, set at almost game tempo. Away from the football facility, life is similarly structured.
Even when going out to dinner was feasible— before he reached icon status—it was a chore for Cignetti. “To sit at a restaurant for an hour,” he says, “I’m highly incapable of that.”
Know what he can do for hours on end? Watch film.
Johnson, the former JMU quarterback, remembers Cignetti’s ability to recall a defensive formation or a play call from years earlier, find it on film and apply it to one of their game plans.
“It was pretty incredible to watch,” Johnson says. “He could watch film eight to 10 hours a day. He’s so passionate about football, I don’t know if he thinks about anything else.”
Cignetti was accommodating with his time for this story. But it was his second major sitdown interview of the day, and it was keeping him from what he really wanted to do that day: watch tape on a prospect.
Even before any of the lighting or video equipment from the interview had been packed up, the film junkie was at his desk with the video cued up on a projection screen on his wall. This is his happy place—studying football, with a notepad and a pen at hand. Even after crafting his greatest masterpiece, Curt Cignetti has more chapters to write.

Sports

Ice Spice Sports Red-Hot Tattoos Under Her Backside, Social Media Is Thirsty

Ice Spice kept busy with singles in the past year, and fans are eagerly awaiting her follow-up album to 2024’s major label debut. She set off the Internet after she debuted a pair tattoos under her rearside, and online fans have joined in the excitement.
Ice Spice, 26 shared on Facebook a photo of a tattoo beneath her lower thigh that read “Saint” and ‘Sinner’ in bright red. The cursive writing was dramatic.
Ice’s caption reads “For the Love of the Game,” but the message is unclear. The New York rapper is clearly visible in the video because of her bottom, and we think that’s what’s causing the fans’ rabid response.
Ice has not revealed the reason for revealing his tattoos. It’s also unknown if this means that new music will be released soon. It has however highlighted the fact that people on Internet streets are feeling Ice Spice.
See the reaction below.
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Photo: Getty

Sports

Michigan-Western Michigan: Inside how Broncos leadership accepted controversial loss to Wolverines

Lance Taylor, who was in Western Michigan’s football facility on the day after Western Michigan’s devastating loss to Michigan, attended a university press conference called by the president of his school. The purpose: To discuss the most unlikely and controversial finish in the history of college football.
Russ Kavalhuna, WMU’s president said: “Truly, I think he’d rather train with his children.”
Western Michigan’s head coach and president spent an hour with reporters. They repeated a common theme, after Big Ten officials decided that one second was to be added to the clock as a result of re-watching the replay, which led to Michigan’s Hail Mary victory 13-12.
Kavalhuna stated, “I’ll say that I have looked at this fairly closely and was a former federal prosecutor.” I don’t see anything wrong or unfair in the process. Could the process be made better by making sure that what is seen by the public and what officials are reviewing the video match? Maybe. “Frankly, it’s not up to me.”
Western Michigan chose acceptance and understanding in a sport that has become a place where players and conferences are suing each other, schools are suing conferences and schools sueing conferences. Western Michigan has the most compelling case to be outraged, yet its president and coach chose peace even when people in the football program demanded more anger.
Kavalhuna explained that “our students, our coach and the university we work for live in a society where we do not always get our way.” Kavalhuna said, “It’s a chance for us to demonstrate that we don’t always get what we want. We live in a world where people aren’t happy with what they have. We will move on. “We can use this to strengthen us.”
One second can change everything
Michigan was victorious Saturday after officials who reviewed the replay restored one second of the clock to the timer following an incompletion Hail Mary that seemed to have ended the game, with Western Michigan winning 12-7. Bryce Underwood, after the Big Ten reviewed the play, was allowed one last shot. He found JJ Bucanan among a crowd of players at the middle front of the endzone for the 47-yard game-winning touchdown. Two hours after the match, the conference issued a press release along with a video showing what their officials saw. They determined that Broncos Safety Micah Davis – a former Michigan scout-team player – leaped out of bounds and touched the football with just one second left.
What is the reason for the lack of time displayed on the game clock during NBC’s broadcast? Kavalhuna said to CBS Sports that the school had not talked to NBC.
In a Sunday afternoon statement, NBC explained that “Our cameras (NBC) are not the official arbiter for timekeeping in the game.” This is Big Ten’s and the game officials responsibility.
According to the Big Ten, the decision was based on a direct view of the stadium clock synchronized via strobes with the broadcast cameras and replay system, 85 minutes prior to the match. NBC’s broadcast of the national game had already reached zero. The broadcast clock was different from the one in the replay centre.
Western Michigan was a 4-touchdown underdog when it entered Michigan Stadium and won for the majority of the evening. Kavalhuna claimed that the Broncos “dominated for forty minutes” after Michigan’s first touchdown.
WMU chooses acceptance over outrage
Western Michigan’s president claimed he had spent hours in Ann Arbor, Michigan Stadium after losing the game looking for ways to challenge it. At 1 a.m., he spoke to MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher before speaking with Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti.
Kavalhuna stated that there are currently no appeals for either the Big Ten or MAC. I had asked if a review system should be implemented, but it is not.
How to turn disappointment into an opportunity
Taylor and Kavalhuna discussed the game for nearly an hour and answered reporters’ queries Sunday afternoon. The players were taught to use the failure as an opportunity to learn about life.
Taylor replied, “because life isn’t always fair.” You don’t get every promotion you desire. “You don’t get the promotion you want even if you are the best qualified. You worked very hard to earn it.”
Even so, it doesn’t remove the pain or belief that some people have that they had been wronged. They believe that Western Michigan won the match.
Kavalhuna stated, “Maybe it’s true that they were unfair. But this is an opportunity to move forward.” Western Michigan University is known for teaching people to take a punch in the face and gut and get back up. That’s exactly what we will do.
In a press release issued after Big Ten released a video explaining the process of review and the audio and video from the center, the MAC expressed its gratitude to the Big Ten, accepted the explanation and Steinbrecher congratulated Michigan.
Taylor stated, “Even though they didn’t agree with us on everything, they still cooperated.”
Both men said that they did not believe the decision was right, but they both firmly supported the Big Ten system and its integrity. They both said that people from Western Michigan wanted to push the issue Saturday night.
Kavalhuna said in an interview with CBS Sports on Sunday that “there are many people who are asking us to strike out. That’s not something Broncos does.” We’ll go ahead and show that we are the superior team.
Taylor stated that “there were many people upset because we did not address this issue more”. I didn’t speak out more strongly in my presser or on the table. “We stood up for our team and our players and our children, as well as for the integrity and fairness of the game. We wanted to know why the call was made and if it was correct.
Western Michigan knew the result of this game would remain unchanged.
Kavalhuna explained that when people feel they have been unfairly treated, they don’t appreciate the situation. It would be bad management to keep looking backwards and trying to find a solution to the problem.
Taylor took ownership of the defeat, as he had done just minutes earlier at the post-match press conference. He said that Western Michigan could have won the game before it got to a Hail Mary. He also said that his clock management could’ve been improved.
Taylor stated that “the refs didn’t cost the game and making excuses allows us to remain bitter rather than improve.” Taylor said, “I think we should aim to be that football team.”
Taylor held a Sunday morning meeting with his team’s staff and leadership council. He also planned an afternoon team gathering. After winning the MAC title by winning 10 out of 11 games in 2025, the Broncos have the best chance to do so this year.
Taylor stated, “I believe that on the national stage our team proved to be able to play against anyone in the nation.”
There are still other hypotheticals and obstacles to be considered. What will the College Football Playoff Selection Committee do if Michigan’s loss is a factor in determining whether the Broncos get a spot on the playoffs, versus another Group of Six team or an envious Power Four program with multiple losses?
I’d describe the football match as a game between two strong teams. Michigan is a great team. Kavalhuna said to CBS Sports that he thought Western Michigan was a good team. “I don’t think they’ll even consider that a defeat, but I wouldn’t call it anything else than a great loss. I have never lost a game as bad as going to the Big House as 28-point underdogs and controlling the ball that way, winning for 60 minutes, and then losing at the very last second.”

Sports

Has National Championship picture in college football already changed after a stunning first week?

The 2026 college season has only just begun, but already the picture of playoffs and the National Championship is upside-down. After some surprising performances, the power balance within both the top conferences may have changed.
The Indiana Hoosiers, defending national champs who finished a season 16-0 and recruited another impressive class of transfer players under Curt Cignetti were expected to be the Big Ten Champions, but the Ohio State Buckeyes or Oregon Ducks have been the favorites.
Ohio State delivered on its promise with a resounding victory over Ball State. The Buckeyes were far from the top team, yes, but they did what was needed as the number one nation’s team for their first game. Oregon, though? No, not exactly.
OREGON RALLIES FROM A SLOW START AND THWARTS BUILDING STATE BOISE’S UPSET Bid In Season Opener
After a Broncos’ field goal, the Ducks were tied at the end of just eight minutes after the Boise State first-half. After a touchdown drive that gave Oregon a lead of 34-27, their defense tightened up and won with two consecutive stops. The Ducks were more dominant than their score indicated. Boise State was only allowed 4.2 yards per play on average, while the Ducks had an eight yard per play average. The Ducks averaged 10 yards passing per pass attempt, and had 28 completions out of 38 attempts, for a total 378 yardage. They also added three sacks, four tackles, and a loss for gain on the defense. Ducks supporters can take heart from the close scoreline, as they feel that their team “deserved” to win.
Michigan and USC are two of the teams in the Big Ten’s “second tier,” who have been hoping that coaching changes and an extra year to develop their starting quarterbacks would make a difference. SC hired defensive coordinator Gary Patterson in order to make the Trojans’ defensive unit champion-quality. After a turbulent year following the dismissal of Sherrone Moor, Michigan hired Kyle Whittingham, Utah’s head coach, who is known for being consistent and steady.
The results of the two races on Saturday could not have been any more different.
No one who has watched Michigan outside of fans, believes they won at the last second against Western Michigan. The Broncos were better, but they couldn’t keep the Broncos off the field. They also benefited frequently from questionable officials. It took a Hail Mary that shouldn’t have been necessary to win. The Wolverines’ offense was only 276 yards, even with the 47-yard touchdown pass. Home. Western Michigan is a 28 point favorite.
CLOCK CONTROVERSY ALLOWS MICHIGAN WOLVERINES TO AVOID MASSIVE UPSET AGAINST WESTERN MICHIGAN
Again, they averaged 5,8 yards per game, including the 47-yard passing. Bryce Underwood looked terrible, despite making a lot of money from a highly-publicized recruiting battle. Underwood completed 11 of 21 passes for 123 yard, excluding the Hail Mary. At home, against Western Michigan. Ann Arbor has long been proud of the Michigan running game. It had 16 running back attempts for 59 yard. Home. Against Western Michigan. Jalen Buckley, the Broncos’ running back, had 19 attempts for 62 yard. All by himself.
Ask Notre Dame 2024. They lost to Northern Illinois 16-14, but then went on to play in the College Football Playoff National Championship. Michigan is not a contender to make the playoffs, as most people consider their performance a failure. They also have a difficult schedule, with games next week against Iowa, Penn State and Indiana as well as Ohio State and Oregon.
USC, though? The defense delivered the performance that fans had been waiting for.
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Fresno State may not be Oregon but it was expected that the Bulldogs would be among the best Group of Six squads. The Bulldogs finished the 2025 season with a 9-4 record, beating Boise State by 30-7 and Oregon State by 36-27. They were considered a contender for the G6 Playoffs in the new Pac-12 Conference. Greg McIlroy, an analyst at ESPN, picked them to be near the top.
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The Trojans pushed them to the sidelines. SC was a 21-point favorite, but outgained Bulldogs by 552-116. The Bulldogs averaged 8.1 yard per play while only allowing 2.6. Fresno dominated the offensive statistics in the final drive against SC’s backups. The Trojans’ defense allowed less than 50 yards of total offense at the halfway point in the fourth quarter. They also averaged 1.7 yards per offensive play. Fresno State doesn’t belong to the FCS. The team was ranked No. They were ranked 73rd in the preseason SP+ ranking, which is one of best available analytics-based rankings systems. This is ahead of Stanford, USF and Iowa State.
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USC also has some tough games ahead against Oregon, Washington and Penn State. But if their defense is real, then they could be “back” in a flash.
LSU WON A REVIVAL AND CLEMSON WAS IN A FUNERAL: KIFFIN’S DEBUT SENDS A CLEAR MESSAGE TO COLLAGE FOOTBALL
The LSU Tigers were the clear winners of the weekend. Lane Kiffin’s debut was perfect despite the controversy that surrounded the program. LSU destroyed Clemson who had no offensive ability and were barely able provide any opposition on the defensive side. They treated Clemson like a FCS and cemented their place as the top SEC contenders along with Texas, Georgia, and Georgia.
Week one didn’t decide anything, but the playoff picture was already rearranged. LSU and USC may be more competitive than anticipated, and provide more of a challenge to Ohio State and Georgia.
Oregon “deserved” to win the championship, but they are a little further from being championship-caliber than most expected based on Dan Lanning’s talent. If poll voters had been honest, Michigan deserved to be dropped from the top 25.

Sports

Martin Brundle: George Russell must question Mercedes over Italian GP VSC call

Martin Brundle, former Formula 1 driver for Sky Sports and Sky Sports’ analyst Martin Brundle says that George Russell should get an answer from Mercedes about a strategy involving a virtual security car which could have cost him the Italian Grand Prix.
Russell was on track to close the gap between himself and his teammate Kimi Anthonylli, who is also a championship contender. While Russell was out in the virtual safety-car period on his hard tyres, Antonelli had to be brought back for new mediums. The 20-year old used his tyres to climb back up and win his own race.
Brundle said, “George Russell has had a difficult day.” He will need to sit with the team and discuss how that happened. I led the race. “Why was it that I wasn’t given the cheap and preferential pit stop here?
Russell had a great opportunity to reduce the distance in the standings after Antonelli was penalized by a power-unit penalty during the Italian Grand Prix.
Brundle said that Brundle had added, “George’s chance to address the deficit grew as the World Championship approached.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes
Sam Bagnall via Getty Images.
Naomi Schiff, a Sky Sports commentator and former W Series driver, echoed Brundle. I think he is probably also questioning his own abilities and wondering why he didn’t get a better advantage.
But I believe that in hindsight he’ll ask questions like ‘Why didn’t I get pit time during the VSC’?
The victory could have been saved by a new set of tires.
Antonelli now has a lead of 66 points over Russell, the second-placed driver, after claiming his seventh F1 victory at Monza.

Sports

Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show makes history with 7 Emmy wins

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Bad Bunny has just added a new accomplishment to his impressive resume.
After winning seven awards for his performance at the 2026 Super Bowl, Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny is now an Emmy award winner. “The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny” won: music direction, choreography, sound mixing, lighting design, technical direction/camerawork, and directing. After the Super Bowl show broke records, he won both as producer and performer for it.
The international icon not only brought Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, and local business owners to the stage, but he also showed his admiration and love for Puerto Rico. He even performed a wedding in real life.
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The Super Bowl Halftime Show is the most awarded Super Bowl show in Emmy History, exceeding Kendrick’s performance at 2022 Super Bowl, which received three Emmys.
Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner, has defended Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl 2026 halftime performer. He said that the backlash from football fans is not uncommon and they are “confident” it will be a fantastic show.
Goodell added, “I don’t think we have ever chosen an artist without some criticism or blowback.” Goodell continued, “I think this is going to be a thrilling and united moment.”
The other categories included: The Oscars, ABC and CBS.
Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, the NFL’s official live music entertainment strategy that oversees production and the selection of artists and shows, explained why Bad Bunny had been chosen as the host.
What Benito did and is doing for Puerto Rico, I find truly inspirational. Jay-Z made a statement saying that he was “honored” to be able to host Benito on this stage.
Bad Bunny is yet to react publicly to Emmys news. However, he has previously discussed what it means to him to be on stage.
What I feel goes far beyond me. This is in honor of those who ran miles before me so that I could score a touchdown. It’s also for my people and culture. “Tell your grandmother that we will be the HALFTIME SHOWCASE OF THE SUPER BOWL,” said Walker in a press release following his announcement.
Creative Arts Emmys will not be broadcasted or streamed live, however, highlights of the awards show on FXX on September 12 at 8 pm PT.
Mariska Hargitay, who has won two Emmys in the past for her work producing and directing My Mom Jayne – A Film by Mariska Hargitay will be hosting the Emmys on NBC live from the Peacock Theater of L.A. Live on Monday Sept. 14 at 8 p.m.
Charles Barkley reaches a definitive Inside the NBA ruling on Ernie Johnson