First-year Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti was named Big Ten Coach of the Year after leading the Hoosiers to an 11-1 season, and Bloomington is buzzing.
Head swimming coach Ray Looze says that his athletes come into practice daily talking about the football team’s success and use it as motivation in their own training. This has been a welcome boost of positivity as the Indiana men plan to vie for their first national team title since 1975.
Looze is candid in discussing the impact of football on swimming, saying that when the football team has success, everyone does. “Football is like the University’s front door and it makes everyone better… it’s really important to Olympic sports.”
While just last year Looze said he couldn’t give football tickets away if he tried, now he has swimming alumni streaming into town trying to get tickets for the games. It has brought national attention to Indiana University and Bloomington, which helps recruiting for all sports, including swimming.
With high-impact transfers from defending NCAA champion Arizona State (Owen McDonald, Zalan Sarkany) Virginia (Matt King), and Towson (Brian Benzing), as well as a good freshman class and seasoned upper-classmen, the Hoosiers have a shot to make a run at an NCAA crown come March.
They will be challenged by numerous teams, including Texas and Cal, but coach Looze is putting an emphasis on enjoying working toward that end goal. “I’ve never been as excited about a collegiate season I am now… If you’ve got a chance to win a championship, it’s always super special.”
Are we really trying to make a story out of this? Texas is romping to the title.
Nooo! Texas will be winning the ncaa champ!!!
Keep Dreaming…
(Remember…DIVING MATTERS!)
I would like to correct a date.
The last NCAA Team title won
by IU was 1973.
USC won in 1975.
The same Mark Lambert from Hinsdale Central High School coached by the legend Don Watson??
Busted
Didnt Don Watson assist under Doc at IU before heading to Hinsdale Central??
Glad we are talking about other teams besides UT. They get way too much press
Must have been an article prepped a while back as Coleman would not have failed to include mention of Corbeau joining the squad at this point if it was written recently. Either way a great interview and great article.
Based on how Ray handled a bigger issue with a great swimmer recently, I’m calling for karma in favor of IU this year. Go Hoosiers!! The ghosts of Doc and Hobie are certainly pulling for them.
What issue/swimmer are you referring to that Ray was dealing with recently? Sorry I’m just out of the loop.
ABSOLUTELY
AND…DIVING MATTERS
Success in football and basketball also raises a university’s profile among prospective students, and it raises additional money for the university even beyond the athletic department. When Villanova won those two NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships a few years back, the number of students who applied to the university rose immediately by 22%, and the percentage of alumni who donated to the university jumped from 17% to 27%.
the Doug Flutie effect
can usa swimming please form a task force asap to figure out how we as a country can get at least one (1) blue chip female sprint breaststroker to indiana ahead of 2028? were running out of time with lilys pending retirement and no inheritor in sight…
There are a few. They do not go to IU.
Too bad the Hoosiers couldn’t have been competitive like the Vols or the Mustangs. Neither Tennessee nor SMU should ever be invited to CFP again. They’re embarrassing.
Be prepared for more of the same under this format. The four home teams were all preseason Top 10 with very high power ratings. None of the road teams were preseason Top 10. Weaker team, less preparation time, and true road game equals non-competitive.
This format needs overachieving fraudulent teams to get those home berths, or severely underachieving teams to draw the road assignments. For example, preseason #5 Alabama almost certainly would have fared well.