LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The wins keep coming for Indiana University's football team.
Head football coach Curt Cignetti and former quarterback Fernando Mendoza were named to Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in Sports" list for 2026.
Cignetti and Mendoza helped lead the Hoosiers to national glory after an undefeated season.
Indiana beat Miami 27-21 on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium for the College Football Playoff National Championship, with the Hoosiers becoming the first 16-0 team in major college football since Yale in 1894.
"Two words will forever be associated with Curt Cignetti," Sean Gregory wrote. "'Google me.'"
During that undefeated season, Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy and was later taken by the Las Vegas Raiders as No. 1 in the NFL Draft.
"Fernando Mendoza accomplished one of the great surprise college-football feats: he won a national championship and Heisman Trophy as quarterback for Indiana, a basketball school with so little football tradition that, before Mendoza’s arrival in 2025, the Hoosiers hadn't played in a Rose Bowl since 1968. They had enjoyed exactly four winning seasons since 1995," Gregory wrote.
Other Hoosier honorees include Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and former Indianapolis Colts punter turned sportscaster Pat McAfee.
Representing Kentucky is Cherie DeVaux, who became the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby with Golden Tempo, who would go on to win the Belmont Stakes. Former UK Wildcat and NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also landed on the list.
You can look at the full Time 100 list by clicking here.
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