Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti paid the ultimate compliment to Ryan Day as the two prepare for the Big Ten Championship.
Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day and Curt Cignetti will face off against each other for the second time in their careers on Saturday in Indianapolis. The stakes for round two of this budding rivalry are no less than 100 times larger than their first bout in Columbus last year.
The Hoosiers and the Buckeyes look like they are the two best teams in America this season, and the separation between them and third place is far away.
The personalities of these two groups couldn't be more different.
Ohio State has built its identity this season on killing opponents with incredible efficiency. The offense will methodically suffocate their opponents with long drives, surgical execution, and great complementary football.
Indiana, on the other hand, goes pedal-to-the-metal right out of the gate. The Hoosiers beat you early and often. They hit on big plays and really bury their opponents, to the point where their starters are sitting in the fourth quarter with towels over their heads, laughing and joking around with their teammates.
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It's two different teams, two different philosophies, two different paths, and it has led the two programs to the same spot.
As the Big Ten Championship week kicked off on Monday, the two head coaches joined the media on a conference call, and Cignetti started it off by paying Day an incredible compliment.
"Ryan Day is great coach. He'll be one of the the legends of the game someday."-
To which Day responded in kind, expressing immense respect for Cignetti, who has turned the Indiana program around in just two seasons. The fellow Big 10 Conference members went from the bottom of the Big Ten and the country to making the Playoff last year and having a chance to be the top seed entering the Playoffs this year.
It's clear that Cignetti and the Hoosiers are legit, and they will not be taken lightly, at all.
We spoke about this on Saturday, but the blessing about being a great football team is having momumental, historic, program changing victories. The curse of being a great team is that you get about 12 hours to celebrate the win.
The Buckeyes have already washed away their huge victory over the Michigan Wolverines and have turned their attention to the Hoosiers.
For good reason, the Buckeyes will need to have their "A Game" on Saturday or they will be liable to get beaten. Indiana is no joke.
These two teams respect each other, the coaches appreciate each other, and the teams are ready for war on Saturday in Indianapolis.