Yesterday, on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, the Indiana Hoosiers defeated Miami U 27-21 at Hard Rock Stadium in the CFP National Championship final. However, hours before the victory, Indiana alum and Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban opened up about his investment in the Hoosiers' coach Curt Cignetti's program.
Cuban appeared on ESPN's First Take, where he opened up about his key role in helping Curt Cignetti's Indiana Hoosiers reach the final yesterday. Cuban explained that he helped build the roster through donations and NIL fundraising. He also brought up his Shark Tank investments while comparing his investment in Cignetti's program.
“It wasn’t any one thing, it was just who he was. “He didn’t come in and say, ‘Oh, I’m going to do all these grand things.’ He’s just, ‘This is how we do it. I have a specific way, it’s always worked. There’s no reason why it’s not going to work again.’ I’m like investing in an entrepreneur in Shark Tank. He’d been there and done that, he had an approach. He has a system. The way he designs everything, the way he builds organizations. That’s really what connected me.”
“It wasn’t about designing a program that just went and outbid everybody, it was putting together a program and an organization and a culture,” Cuban said Monday. “All the things you need to do to win, no matter what the sport is.”
Mark Cuban opens up more about Curt Cignetti's program
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Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti hoists the championship trophy
© Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
In the same interview with ESPN, while still unaware of Indiana Hoosiers' impending victory, Cuban opened up more in detail about how his investment and Cignetti's program helped build the the championship winning roster.
“I saw it with the Mavs [Dallas Mavericks] in the NBA, there’s kind of like a salary cap. You have to know how to build a team. You have to know what kind of players to go after. It’s not about winning the portal. It’s about getting athletes and players who want to, know their role, work to fill that role, know what their position is with the team, and having an organization and coaches that understand you’re not getting players who are coming in for four years to develop, then they’re great when their seniors,” Cuban continued. “And then the other thing I love about the program. They talk about no five stars, limited four stars. What that means to me, they’re not out there trying to outbid everybody.