Locked On Nittany Lions - Daily Podcast On Penn State Nittany Lions Football & Wrestling
Big 10 SQUAD - Will Indiana or Oregon Make It To the National Championship
06 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.
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The Big Ten will once again play for a national championship. Oregon or Indiana? Who advances? Ohio State did not. All that and more on today's Locked On Big Ten Squad.
You're talking ball with the Big Ten Squad. Sponsored by Game Time. From USC to Ohio State, from Michigan to Oregon, from Nebraska to Washington, it's the local experts of the Locked On Podcast Network bringing you scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive preview of the upcoming Big Ten weekend. No hurt feelings and thin skin allowed. Squad Up, you're part of the Big Ten Squad.
Happy Friday, everybody. Welcome to this week's Locked On Big Ten Squad. I'm your host, Spencer McLaughlin. Craig Sheeman of Locked On Big Ten is here. Decked out in Indiana gear for his Indiana Hoosiers. Ryan Herrings of Locked On Badgers is here. Disappointed that we're not talking basketball. So is Zach Anderson-Yoxhammer of Locked On UCLA.
Jay Stevens of Locked On Buckeyes has licked his wounds and shown up for the squad this week. And no such licking of wounds required for Jacob Goins of Locked On Buckeyes. We had Mark Culkin of Lockdown USC, and much like the Trojans in the Alamo Bowl, he bolted at the last minute. So, Craig, I'll start with you. The Hoosiers... The Hoosiers just completely and utterly dominated Alabama.
They were the much better football team, 38-3.
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Chapter 2: What did Indiana's victory over Alabama mean for the college football landscape?
Look, it's time to ask the question, should the SEC be allowed to get a team into the playoff? They can't be competitive. They are unable to put a product on the field that is worth watching. I mean, these are the sorts of questions we've got to ask now, right, Craig? Yeah, Caleb DeBoer is going to wish real soon he took that Michigan job, right? Because, I mean, the heat is going to be way up.
And here's how far we've come in my world. I've been following the Hoosiers for five decades. I was upset in the second half. I was like, man, we gave up three. I mean, Oregon had a shutout earlier today. We gave up the three-pointer. This is why we're up by five touchdowns in the Rose Bowl against Alabama. I had to check myself and go, wait a minute, what world am I living in right now? And I
Also point out, Kurt Signetti, congratulations. The one and only coach in America to figure out how to handle a 26-day bye. He's the first one out of eight total coaches to figure it out. So congratulations to him. He is the best coach in America. It's actually eight total games and seven total coaches because Kirby Smart got bit by that twice. In a row, which is hard to believe.
You said Kalen Nabor had some regret. Roman Tomashoff of Lockdown Huskies is here. Roman, should he have just never left Seattle? I mean, honestly, yes. This was one of the things where, even at the time, it was so ridiculous to think about because... doing that four days after a national championship, he would have had all the leash in the world here.
And now looking at just what he's, the kind of fire he's been under since the moment he arrived at Alabama, like even if you want to take out that first season, what it sounded like all year this year, If he never left UW, this never would have been an issue. I think that he still would have been able to build a consistent winner here.
And it was very clear that he was on the right track after going 25-3 over his first two years. And the fact that he was just kind of like, no, I'm going to go try to fill the shoes of Nick Saban, it was just such a bad move on his part. Yeah, it's not. It can't feel great. I mean, they got better this year. They got to the quarterfinal, won a road playoff game.
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Chapter 3: Can Oregon or Indiana claim the national championship?
That's something. By the way, I got to bring in Jacob Goins of Locked On Hoosiers here. I assume he's in a good mood. I would just like to say your team is a bunch of nerds. Who allows a point in a quarterfinal game? I mean, what were you guys asleep at the wheel or something? Well, if you forget, we put up 38 points instead of just 23, like some, you know. Defense wins championships, my friend.
Defense. Did your quarterback throw a touchdown pass, Jacob? Several, actually, yeah. Yeah, several. And how many points your defense allow? Three? You remember the 30, Mark? You remember 30 or 30 plus? Yeah, just remember that number because it'll come up again in just about a week or so. Look, Indiana showed up and did what they did, right? They've done this all year long.
And I was talking with some people throughout the week leading up to the game, and it was, oh, Alabama's been here before. Alabama, they've done it. They're just going to steamroll. Indiana doesn't know what they're doing. And this was not that at all. So, yeah, shout out to Kurt Signetti, the coordinators, the team. I mean, if people don't believe now, they never will.
And I'm not saying you have to believe in Indiana to be a decade dynasty, but you better believe in them in 25 and 26 because they're the best team in America. Craig already said it. Kurt Cignetti is the best coach in America. Fernando Mendoza is the best quarterback in America. And the Hoosiers have the best defense in America. Sounds like a winning recipe to me, guys.
Yeah, and I got to tell you, the quote about the Alabama mystique was pretty awesome. Like I said, you know more about the mystique than the guys in my locker room do. They just know the tape. And then he went and just beat the crap out of them. Ryan Herring's locked on Badgers. Are you feeling Big Ten pride over there in Madison? I am. First of all, there's so many people here. Happy New Year.
Celebrating bowl season. Yeah. Ryan didn't get his car stolen. He didn't, right? I see Zach out here chilling about basketball. All y'all guys got bowls and playoffs. Hats off to Indiana. You know the remarkable thing with Indiana is they never have a bad day. They never seem to have a bad rep. They never seem to have an off night. They're always locked in. It's incredible. I will point this out.
All these bum teams in the playoffs, Wisconsin played Indiana tougher than Alabama. That was 31-7. Good point. Moral victory. Oregon tougher than Texas Tech. I'm just saying.
Yep.
statistically just ignore the hurricane they were playing in and that's true better quarterback play though mid to low tier big 10 teams are playing these teams harder than sec and outside forces so i'll give let's give wisconsin a little bit of love here this schedule was ridiculous and it's it's validated by how well these big 10 teams are crushing opponents um congratulations both you guys though spencer and jacob and the fan bases
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Chapter 4: What impact has Kurt Signetti had on Indiana's football program?
Great. There's only two.
uh the team that will not be winning a national championship is the ucla bruins i thought they had i thought that they're gonna do it no zach you're gonna have to wait uh jay stevens what in the world just happened um i don't know what if i don't know what happened that was the worst o-line play i've seen from ohio state in the ryan day era it was horrible i have never seen guys at ohio state literally get ran through their chest
And it's multiple guys that can't block. I get the running back trying to pick up a blitzing linebacker, and that one happened, but they got ran through the entire game. And I'm not even going to say the layoff was an issue. They weren't going to beat them if they had a week to prepare. If it was week 14, week 15, they weren't beating Miami. Miami was more violent. They were more physical.
Ryan Day says, trust your preparation. Clearly, they weren't prepared to play that day. They're lucky they only lost by 10 points. That was a horrible performance.
It's time to ask the question, does Mario Cristobal live rent-free in Ryan Day's head? He's 2-0 all-time. 2-0 all-time. I mean, that's... Yeah, I don't even know what to make of that. It's just a fact. Anyway, Zach Anderson, I'm sure you've been watching all these games. Clean haircut, by the way. Ron Swanson approved down there.
How do you feel about Big Ten football right now and your new head coach, Bob Chesney?
Pretty happy about Bob Chesney. You know, we've been talking more football than basketball on the show, so that's surprising in the middle of basketball season. But in terms of the Oregon game, we slept through that, enjoyed the Rose Parade. You know, they should move the game back to two. I don't know how you feel about that, Mark.
Then we have the likes of Indiana treating Alabama like they were playing UCLA, right, in the Rose Bowl game. That's how I felt. Like, oh, Alabama looks like UCLA playing Indiana. So that's how good Indiana is. That's how I felt two years in a row against the Hoosier buzzsaw.
I believe when Indiana went to the Rose Bowl and played UCLA was actually a closer game than what than what Alabama just put on the field. Am I remembering that incorrectly or am I right? Yeah, I don't remember the final score, but it was it was a lot to hold on. I think Indiana put a 40 burger on UCLA. I don't remember 42 to 13. They lost by 29 points. Bama lost by 35. UCLA, man.
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Chapter 5: How are mid-tier Big Ten teams outperforming national heavyweights?
He would spell his name with two Gs. He would be D-U-G-G Doug. Look, I'll be 100% real. I'm on the air a decent amount. I don't remember every single word I've ever said. But when did I say that? I don't know. Hey, if any of you guys want to rip me behind my back, just spell my name right for SEO purposes in the comments.
Perhaps what he was referring to as my concern level about Oregon's defense out of the JMU game was a 2 out of 10. But, gee, thanks, Doug, for making me look like an a-hole. Just going around. Craig Seaman, what a schmuck. Guy has no idea what he's talking about there. It's all good. It's all good. I just thought I'd bring it up. As you should. This is a group therapy session, Greg.
I got you, man. Nothing, if not a group therapy session.
I never feel therapized after I come here with UCLA football. That's all I'm saying.
I mean, if that's the case after this season, Zach, haven't you needed therapy for like 10 years at this point? Not that long, but pretty soon. Okay, we're getting there. Chesney will change it, though, obviously. So, Ryan, do you think the Big Ten is bound to win its third straight national championship? Yeah, I think Indiana. I think Indiana is the best team left.
And if anybody beats them, it's Oregon. I think the winner of this game wins the title. Really quick, while we're rolling back to carpet, I also have a comment from somebody from our show that we did, Spencer. Oh, boy. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I was like, wait a minute. We played, like, two months ago. I've been saving it.
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Chapter 6: What role does player development play in the Big Ten's success?
No, here's the thing, guys. Indiana still gets approached with a certain level of trepidation because they're Indiana. Dude, if you had taken all these performances the last two years and removed the Indiana logo and slapped a Bama logo, a Texas logo, a Notre Dame logo on what they've done, nobody would bet against them. They just housed Alabama. They went into Autzen and beat the Ducks.
Like, this team's incredible. They're amazing. a steamroller, and if they had any other logo, nobody would be picking against them. I mean, I didn't pick against them against Alabama. Some folks did.
I love championship football. I'm telling you, this is an elite level right now, guys.
Mark has seen a lot of football in his day. That is true. Perhaps more than the rest of us combined due to certain factors that shall go unmentioned on this particular program. Goins, how do you feel about... How do you feel about that proposition that the Big Ten will win its third straight national championship? It'd be a pretty crushing blow to the SEC country, would it?
I actually don't know the last time the SEC failed to win three straight national championships, which speaks to the high bar that they've set for themselves, but also that the Big Ten's adapted better to the new world of college football. Yeah. And Indiana is the perfect example of that. Right.
Because of how bad Indiana was before Kurt Cignetti got here, before they invested with NIL and they figured out that the transfer portal exists and they have. Yeah, they were like the UCLA of the Big Ten. They were bad. They were really, really bad.
But I think it being Indiana, because I do think they go on to win the national title, but it being Indiana to win the third straight for the Big Ten would just crush college football altogether, especially the Southeastern Conference. They don't know what to do. Alabama fans were silent on the Internet after the Rose Bowl because they were just in shock. They don't know how to handle it.
And the Big Ten has proven it is impossible. Top-heavy, yes, but it's just so much better than any other conference in the country, and it's not even close. And to Ryan's point about teams still not taking Indiana seriously, I don't think that happens against Oregon or in the national championship game if the Hoosiers get there.
because you'd be stupid to do so because it's all on film and they've proven how good they are in everything that they do. So I don't expect anybody, including Dan landing in the ducks in round two to overlook Indiana by any means, because they got beat by 10 last time.
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Chapter 7: How has NIL and the transfer portal changed college football dynamics?
And it's shown up in bowl season. I think it's shown up throughout the course of the regular season this year. And I feel like there's just no argument at this point in time, this Oregon, Indiana game, I I'm just I'm so excited to watch what this is going to be like in round two after how we saw the first round go, which Craig Jacob, again, thank you for that. That was a lot of fun to watch.
But again, I feel like there is no argument at this point in time that the Big Ten is the best conference in college football. Mark, it just means more in the Big Ten, right?
I'm not a conference guy, but let's just give credit to Indiana right now. They've been really, really good. If you're looking for one of those eight claps for me type of thing, it ain't going to happen.
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You're just like, I'm done. I'm not a conference rah-rah guy. I'm always going to be USC first.
Would that be because your team doesn't care about the conference they're in and will blow it up for their own self-interest no matter what? Right, yes. Okay, at least you own it.
Looking back, it might not have been the greatest decision, but yeah, you know what? If you have the power to do it, you do it, Spencer. Unfortunately, Oregon doesn't have that cachet, so you tagged along at half price. All right, you're living your 15 minutes of fame. That's great. I'm going to say this. Look, Indiana, Oregon, you guys are playing great football right now.
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