Since it was announced, the overwhelming majority of Indiana fans have circled the Hoosiers’ week three tilt with UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
When the Hoosiers take the field on Saturday evening, it will be the first time since the 1968 Rose Bowl Game that Indiana will be the main event at the cathedral of college football.
However, for Curt Cignetti, it is just another game.
Cignetti, who has led Indiana to a 2-0 start in his first season in Bloomington, has a ton of respect for the stadium his team will be playing in but realizes it’s just another day in the office.
"The Rose Bowl has a lot of tradition, but for me and the team, it's more of a business trip,” Cignetti said in his weekly press conference Monday. “Whether we're playing in the Rose Bowl or a parking lot. It's all the same."
Saturday night’s game against the Bruins will be the Big Ten conference game not only for Cignetti, but also for DeShaun Foster and his Bruins.
Despite downplaying the venue himself, Cignetti realizes that getting his team to think the same way will be a challenge. It will be a task that Cignetti will take upon himself to ensure the focus of his players.
The outside noise isn’t only coming from the Indiana fanbase. Vegas opened with Indiana as the 1.5-point favorite, and has grown to 2.5 since.
It is the first time the Hoosiers opened as road favorites since November 14th, 2020 ahead of a matchup in East Lansing against Michigan State, a game the Hoosiers blanked the Spartans 24-0.
“Somehow we're favored,” Cignetti said of the betting lines. “It doesn't mean anything."
It is unclear which day the Hoosiers will depart for Pasadena, but Cignetti told reporters during Big Ten Media Days in July that he would prefer to get into town on Friday night to avoid all distractions before their 4:30 p.m. PST start.
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