Indiana University to Rejoin Collegiate Water Polo Association for the 2028 Season Three-time Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Champion and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship qualifier Indiana University returns to the league for the 2028 season. The 2003, 2011, 2014 CWPA Champion and four-time (2005, 2010, 2015, 2016) runner-up Hoosiers departed the CWPA in July 2016 to join the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). A decade later, the team rejoins the league to compete with fellow Eastern institutions Brown University, Bucknell University, Harvard University, Mercyhurst University, Princeton University and the University of Michigan. “The Collegiate Water Polo Association welcomes Indiana back to the league starting in 2028,” noted CWPA Commissioner Dan Sharadin. “The addition of Indiana broadens the depth of the league’s competitive stature in an evolving intercollegiate athletic environment.” Located in Bloomington, Indiana, the Hoosiers stand among a select group of teams to consistently rank among the Top 25 teams in the nation. The team will complete its MPSF tenure in 2027 prior to transitioning to the CWPA for the 2028 campaign.
Indiana University Men’s Soccer to Appear on National Television Five Times During the 2026 Season Indiana men’s soccer will make at least five national television appearances over the regular season, as the Big Ten Conference announced its linear programming for men’s soccer on Thursday. Remaining home and conference matches will appear on the B1G+ digital platform. Fans can watch three Indiana road matches via linear networks. ACC Network will show IU’s first road match on August 31 when the Hoosiers visit Louisville. The Big Ten Network will carry Indiana’s September 22 match at Wisconsin as well as its trip to Ohio State on October 22. The Big Ten Network will also carry consecutive IU home matches at the start of October. Hoosier fans unable to attend the October 2 match versus Maryland or the October 6 match against Kentucky can watch those contests on BTN. The television selections have adjusted kickoff times for two of Indiana’s matches. Those times are listed below.
| Date | Opponent | Network | Kickoff |
| Aug. 31 | at Louisville | ACC Network | 7 p.m. ET |
| Sept. 22 | at Wisconsin | Big Ten Network | 8 p.m. ET |
| Oct. 2 | Maryland | Big Ten Network | 7 p.m. ET* |
| Oct. 6 | Kentucky | Big Ten Network | 8 p.m. ET* |
| Oct. 22 | at Ohio State | Big Ten Network | 7 p.m. ET |
* – previously 7:30 p.m. kickoff
“The people love us”: Indiana University Football Players and Coaches Navigating Life-Altering Fame For 63 years, as an assistant and then lower-level college head coach, Curt Cignetti could leave the house while enjoying relative autonomy. His public life started changing during Indiana’s 2024 season, when the Hoosiers stunned the college football world with an 11-1 regular season and an invite to the College Football Playoff. By then he’d be recognized while stopping at the local gas station, and on other occasions here and there. But after IU’s magical 16-0 run to the national title, the 65-year-old’s profile went global. “I’m a little surprised by that, honestly,” Cignetti said of his newfound fame, noting he is recognized everywhere he goes, even on a spring family vacation to the tiny island of St. Barts in the Caribbean.
Coming off one of the most improbable seasons in the history of sports, Cignetti is often asked whether he has taken a step back to soak in the magnitude of what he has accomplished at IU. It’s that aspect — being recognized literally everywhere he goes — when it really hits home. “I think those moments I’m always a little taken back by like ‘Wow like you got to be kidding me,’” Cignetti said of his difficult to comprehend profile. In part to help further propel the program, Cignetti has capitalized on his sudden fame by agreeing to endorsement opportunities and public appearances that will only serve to further expand his already burgeoning image. He drove the pace car at the Indy 500, has a prominent role in the popular College Football 27 video game, and will be appearing soon in a State Farm commercial. In many ways, he’s the face of college football.
While Cignetti is the iconic head of the program, his players have also become celebrities. Fernando Mendoza would generate mobs in Bloomington everywhere he went. Wide receiver Charlie Becker, Mendoza’s roommate in 2025, says he learned to handle his own skyrocketing fame by watching his quarterback. Their teammates have all seen a dramatic change on and around campus. “It’s been a complete 180, complete turnaround. The people love us,” defensive tackle Tyrique Tucker said. “We get recognized out sometimes. If you’re in town and Fernando’s there, good luck.”
The experience of being a national champion and the fame that accompanies it extends beyond Bloomington for the IU players. Returning to their hometowns has brought them another shade of pride, celebrity, and joy. “To be able to see that you made some people happy, you made your dad happy, you made your mom happy, you made your family proud, you made your community proud, your school, your friends, to be able to see that after the support they were able to give me throughout the whole process, it made me feel grateful and blessed to have such a strong support system,” linebacker and Ohio native Isaiah Jones said.
Multiyear veterans under Cignetti like Tucker, Jones and All-American left tackle Carter Smith all know their newfound fame cannot influence their preparation for the 2026 season. “I get called out on the street every once in a while and people give me my props,” Smith said. “But as far as how I carry myself or anything like that, nothing really had to change. The standard is the standard and if I change the way that I work when I go into the facility, then what am I doing? We need to make sure we keep the same blueprint as last year going into this year, and that includes maintaining the same work ethic.”
“As great as that was, as as fun as that was, all the memories we made, all the games we won, you know, I’ll remember those for the rest my life,” Jones said. “But that’s not going to win us any games this year.” Cignetti agrees with those sentiments, of course. He has fostered them in his players. And Cignetti grew up watching his father Frank bear the brunt of fan frustration at West Virginia, even as he battled cancer. When it comes to fans, fame and fortune, he knows things can change in a hurry. On vacation, Cignetti said he enjoys interacting with fans. But he also sees the danger when the constant disruption begins to interfere with his preparation for a new season. Cignetti’s blunt no-nonsense approach is central to his now global image, and he delivered the same wary message as his players — in his own unique way. “It’s nice, but I also know if we don’t hold up our end of the bargain, I’ll be hung in effigy next fall,” he said.
Big Ten wants to eliminate its own football title game, but the Indiana University Football Players aren’t so sure IU football players were learning for the first time on Thursday the Big Ten Championship game might soon become a thing of the past. Commissioner Tony Petitti confirmed at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago last week the 24-team College Football Playoff he is pushing necessarily means the end of early December conference title games. “We won’t be playing a championship game if we go to 24,” Petitti said. “I think that’s been pretty settled in terms of when we make this decision as a league, are we going to support 24, that’s where you start the conversation.” In the playoff era, conference championship games have often been cast aside as a necessary evil that carry injury risks. But last year’s Big Ten final in Indianapolis had significant meaning. In addition to claiming the program’s first outright Big Ten title in 80 years, Indiana clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the CFP, and Fernando Mendoza clinched the Heisman Trophy.
For Indiana players and fans alike, some of their greatest sports memories were forged on that Saturday evening at Lucas Oil Stadium when IU beat Ohio State 13-10 to win the Big Ten crown. “Those games matter man. Those are big games,” defensive tackle Tyrique Tucker said upon learning the league championship game might be eliminated. “I wouldn’t do away with them.” As Ohio natives with Ohio State connections in their families, the 2025 Big Ten title game meant something extra to offensive tackle Carter Smith and linebacker Isaiah Jones. Both expressed disappointment when learning the game might fall victim to a 24-team playoff.
“Well that’s kind of a shame isn’t it?,” Smith said after also just learning of the potential new approach to the postseason. “How are you gonna know who runs the conference then?” Jones, whose father played for Ohio State, said the game helps prepare teams for the CFP. “It’s important man,” he said. It’s not as if the conference title game lacks interest. The 2025 Big Ten Football Championship Game drew 18,332,000 viewers on FOX — the most-watched college football conference championship game of all time. At the broadcast’s peak, 19,993,000 viewers witnessed Indiana capture the crown. Whatever changes come, they won’t impact the 2026 Big Ten Championship, set for Dec. 5 in Indianapolis. But that could be the last one.
Kelsey Mitchell and Stephanie White Earn WNBA Player and Coach of the Month Honors for July The Indiana Fever tore through the month of July as they secured an 8-2 record behind a major hot streak from Kelsey Mitchell. No WNBA player scored more points in July than Mitchell did, and she earned Player of the Month honors alongside coach Stephanie White’s Coach of the Month recognition as a result.
The Fever guard notched 272 points over Indiana’s 10 games last month – a strong average of 27.2 points per game. Indiana caught serious momentum in July as Mitchell surged, and she led the team in scoring six times while extending her 20-point scoring streak. Mitchell’s streak of scoring 20 or more points in consecutive games is now at 14 straight, and 10 of those came in July. Mitchell is an anchor for the Fever, a capable veteran with a microwave scoring ability that makes Indiana one of the league’s most difficult offenses to defend. “It’s really fun,” Caitlin Clark said of Mitchell’s play. “It obviously makes my life easy, so I just try to give her the rock. “It feels like every time she shoots it, it goes in. Just the pace that she plays with, she always puts the defense under stress. It’s really fun to witness up close, and you know, she’s a hooper and she carries herself in the most professional manner.”
Mitchell’s efficiency has been elite – she knocked down nearly 50 percent of her looks in July, including a scorching 46 percent of her shots from beyond the arc. She made 35 3-pointers over that span, second to just Minnesota’s Kayla McBride. Despite her recent success, Mitchell is reluctant to acknowledge praise when it comes to her accomplishments. She prefers subtle dominance, and keeps her head down, buried in her work. “[I’m] definitely grateful, definitely humble,” Mitchell said after scoring 33 points against the Liberty in mid-July. “I just think that there’s always a bigger purpose behind it. I’m not a stat person. “…Ultimately it comes down to just not wanting to give in too much, and not getting too high, not getting too low…I like to think that all the success that I’ve had lately comes from my teammates, comes from the organization across the board. I just think it’s about chemistry. And I think, you know, I want to see them win, and they want to see me win.”
Mitchell’s humility is evidence of the Fever’s “we over me” mantra – the maxim that White affirms to the locker room as Indiana remains level throughout trials and triumphs. “We’ve got to try to control what we can control,” White said on Monday. “We talk about that a lot…Making sure that we keep the main thing the main thing, and focus on pouring into each other, and focus on continuing to be a better basketball team as much as we can.” White deserves an amount of credit for the Fever’s other-worldly offensive bloom. Starting three All-Stars in Clark, Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston helps, but White’s creativity with offensive sets aids in putting each player in positions to showcase their unique skillsets.
She has utilized Mitchell as a screener, Boston as a ball handler, and Clark as an off-ball cutter in various instances this season. White has thrown wrinkles into Indiana’s offensive gameplan to confuse opposing defenses and open space for the Fever to create easy baskets out of that confusion. “When you have two playmakers that are screeners, it makes defenses make a choice,” White said. “I think that we’ve got to be creative in ways that we can get one another shots and create space. I just think that we have an opportunity with those three on the floor to do a lot of different things.”
The creativity is jumping off of White’s whiteboard and onto the court as the Fever dominate the league on the offensive side of the basketball. Indiana posted a 122.7 offensive rating for the month of July – the best in the league by 5.6 points. Mitchell’s dominance is a significant factor in that figure, and the pair have the Fever poised to gain momentum as they open the second half of the season. “I think our group is one of the most resilient groups I’ve been a part of,” Mitchell said. “I’m gonna ride or die with my group no matter what, and I think that’s our edge. It’s that we’re gonna always stay together no matter what.”
Former Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson returning to Andretti Global 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson is returning to Andretti Global for the 2027 season. 2027 will be Ericsson’s fourth season with Andretti Global, and he will be teammates with Kyle Kirkwood and Will Power for the second year in a row. “I’m really excited about the contract extension,” Ericsson said in a news release. “I think it’s been a good year for us. We’ve really been turning things around after last year, and we’ve put in a lot of hard work, and that’s really been paying off. The results haven’t always gone our way this year, but I feel like we’ve been competitive and in the mix on every type of track. That makes me excited for next year and to be able to build on the momentum we’ve created this year. So, I’m super excited about that. I’m very thankful to Jill, Dan, Cassidy and everyone else on the team for the trust they’ve put in me and for believing in me. Now we’re going to finish this season strong, put our heads down and come back even stronger next year.” Ericsson finished 13th at the Indianapolis 500 this year. He is ninth in the IndyCar Series Championship standings and has won one pole and finished in the top five twice this season.
2026 Big Ten Field Hockey Television Schedule Released The Big Ten Conference has announced its television schedule for the 2026 field hockey season. The Big Ten Network (BTN) will broadcast seven regular season games involving all nine participating schools. BTN will also cover the 2026 Big Ten Tournament with a semifinal doubleheader on November 6, followed by the championship game on November 8. The first broadcast is scheduled for Friday, September 18, when Michigan State plays host to Michigan. Field Hockey Fridays will be a theme on the linear schedule with five contests slated for that day of the week. In addition to the BTN lineup, Big Ten games and nonconference contests will be streamed on B1G+, BTN’s subscription streaming service, providing access to stream 2,700 more games and next-day on-demand archives.
Listed below is this year’s schedule:
| Date | Teams | Time | Network |
| Friday, September 18 | Michigan at Michigan State | 4 p.m. ET | BTN |
| Sunday, September 20 | Wake Forest at Maryland | 12 p.m. ET | BTN |
| Friday, September 25 | Rutgers at Maryland | 4 p.m. ET | BTN |
| Friday, October 2 | Indiana at Michigan State | 4 p.m. ET | BTN |
| Friday, October 9 | Iowa at Northwestern | 4 p.m. ET | BTN |
| Friday, October 16 | Ohio State at Penn State | 5 p.m. ET | BTN |
| Thursday, October 22 | Maryland at Northwestern | 8 p.m. ET | BTN |
| Friday, November 6 | Big Ten Tournament Semifinal | 1 p.m. ET | BTN |
| Friday, November 6 | Big Ten Tournament Semifinal | 4 p.m. ET | BTN |
| Sunday, November 8 | Big Ten Tournament Championship | 12 p.m. ET | BTN |