You run across certain soundbites you just can’t believe sometimes, especially when it comes so out of character that you have to start checking the sourcing and whether or not AI was involved. On Wednesday, we saw exactly that from Mr. SEC himself, Paul Finebaum — often called the “mouth of the south.”
Finebaum had been very critical of Indiana and the Big Ten over the last couple of years, most notably of how head coach Curt Cignetti was going about his business both last year and this season, often dismissive of Indiana’s inclusion in last year’s College Football Playoff and its chances of winning the CFP this season.
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After dismantling teams like Alabama and Oregon on the way to Miami for the CFP National Championship Game and winning against the Hurricanes, however, Finebaum came on his show to face the music and admit an “epic failure on his part.” You can forgive any fan of Northern or Midwestern football for falling off their porches into the snow this time of year for what came out of Finebaum’s mouth.
“There can be debate on whether Indiana had the best season in college football history, but there can be no debate; it is the greatest story in the history of the game,” Finebaum said. “What made it even more amazing is how people misunderstood what Curt Cignetti was doing in Bloomington. Let me assure you, nobody was more incorrect in understanding that process than me. Almost everything I said throughout the season about him (Cignetti) and about Indiana was wrong, and it was an epic failure on my part.”
Then, things got even more unbelievable as Finebaum finished his thought. Not only did he give Indiana its flowers, but he also made an admission about the Big Ten that every SEC homer out there will likely cringe about.
“There was no question that Indiana was the best team — and yes — The Big Ten is the best conference in the country,” Finebaum continued. “We congratulate coach Cignetti, Indiana, and the Big Ten for an extraordinary run.”
Say what? Sometimes things happen in this world, and there’s just no other way to spin things because of the reality of what was witnessed, and that’s exactly what we had with the Indiana story over the last couple of seasons, one that culimated in what we saw Monday night.
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We may have wanted it to be Ohio State, but if it wasn’t going to be the Buckeyes, what better program to win some confetti and trophies than the Indiana Hoosiers?
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Paul Finebaum has shocking admission about Indiana and the Big Ten
