Mark Cuban's financial support has helped transform Indiana's football program

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Mark Cuban understands what this moment means for Indiana football, probably more than most.

Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur, is a minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks. He knows what winning looks like. Knows what — and how long — it takes to build a successful program. As an Indiana alum — he graduated from the business school in 1981 — he also has watched its rapid rise from one of the most unsuccessful programs in college football history to the brink of a national title.

Cuban has poured millions into his alma mater over the years, long before Curt Cignetti took over the football team in 2024 and made it a national contender, including a $5 million donation in 2015 for a sports media center. Recently, Cuban has become a significant donor for the football program and earlier this year told Front Office Sports he has donated more money for the current transfer cycle.

Those donations were intended to help build the Hoosiers into a title contender, but even Cuban couldn't foresee a rise this dramatic. Indiana will enter Monday's College Football Playoff championship against Miami as the No. 1 team in the country looking to build on its best season in program history.

“I’ve literally had Centenarians tell me how unimaginable this has been,” Cuban said via email. “Players on the '68 Rose Bowl team tell me the same thing. It’s just all unreal.”

At a time in college football when name, image and likeness and the transfer portal dominate the landscape, Cuban's support for the Hoosiers shows how the right financial backing — and an institution's ability to attract the right celebrities and deep-pocketed alumni — can help alter a program's trajectory.

“It takes a village. It takes money,” Cignetti said Saturday. "But it’s not all about money. We’ve got a lot of alums, a lot of rich alums. Mark Cuban is a very visible guy. ... We kind of hit it off right off the bat. He’s got instant recognition, which only helps.”

Cuban has voiced his support for the team over the years and watched up close at the Peach Bowl when Indiana dominated Oregon to punch its ticket to the national championship. He has enjoyed the up-close ride but made it clear that simply getting to the title game isn't the goal.

“An appearance is fun. It’s been an amazing run,” Cuban said. “As someone who has lost (two) NBA Finals and won one, I can tell you losing hurts a lot more than winning is fun.”

The Hoosiers haven't given any indication they're done winning, though.

They're 26-2 since Cignetti took over and have gone 15-0 this year, earning their first No. 1 ranking in school history. Last month they won their first Big Ten title in nearly half a century. They've beaten Alabama (38-3) and Oregon (56-22) in the CFP by an average of 34.5 points.

Part of that success can be credited to the Hoosiers' Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who has thrown 41 touchdowns this season and has completed 31 of 36 passes in the playoff.

Part is because of their defense, which has been among the nation's stingiest all season.

But a huge factor in the Hoosiers' success is their measured, blunt-spoken head coach Cignetti, who is the first back-to-back AP coach of the year.

“He is CigGPT,” Cuban said. “He and (athletic director) Scott Dolson have redefined how to build a winning team in the NIL era. To IU fans this is everything."

Cignetti returned the praise to Indiana's biggest donor. He and Cuban are three years apart in age and were born in the same hospital in western Pennsylvania.

"If Mark Cuban wanted to give $10 million, that would be like me donating $10,000," Cignetti said. “But we’re glad that he’s involved. If he keeps doubling his donation, it’ll be big one day.”

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) kisses the trophy after the Peach Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal against Oregon, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza speaks during media day ahead of the College Football Playoff national championship game between Miami and Indiana, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Miami. The game will be played on Monday. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti speaks during news conference ahead of the College Football Playoff national championship game between Miami and Indiana, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Miami. The game will be played on Monday. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

FILE - Mark Cuban, center left, greets former Dallas Mavericks player Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers following an NBA basketball game in Dallas, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The mayor of Minneapolis said Sunday that sending active duty soldiers into Minnesota to help with an immigration crackdown is a ridiculous and unconstitutional idea as he urged protesters to remain peaceful so the president won't see a need to send in the U.S. military.

Daily protests have been ongoing throughout January since the Department of Homeland Security ramped up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers.

Three hotels where protesters have said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were staying in the area stopped taking reservations Sunday.

In a diverse neighborhood where immigration officers have been seen frequently, U.S. postal workers marched through on Sunday, chanting: “Protect our routes. Get ICE out.”

The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers based in Alaska who specialize in operating in arctic conditions to be ready in case of a possible deployment to Minnesota, two defense officials said Sunday.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans, said two infantry battalions of the Army’s 11th Airborne Division have been given prepare-to-deploy orders.

One defense official said the troops are standing by to deploy to Minnesota should President Donald Trump invoke the Insurrection Act.

The rarely used 19th century law would allow the president to send military troops into Minnesota, where protesters have been confronting federal immigration agents for weeks. He has since backed off the threat, at least for now.

"It’s ridiculous, but we will not be intimidated by the actions of this federal government,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. “It is not fair, it’s not just, and it’s completely unconstitutional.”

Thousands of Minneapolis citizens are exercising their First Amendment rights and the protests have been peaceful, Frey said.

“We are not going to take the bait. We will not counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos here," Frey said.

Gov. Tim Walz has mobilized the Minnesota National Guard, although no units have been deployed to the streets.

At least three hotels in Minneapolis-St. Paul that protesters said housed officers in the immigrant crackdown were not accepting reservations Sunday. Rooms could not be booked online before early February at the Hilton DoubleTree and IHG InterContinental hotels in downtown St. Paul and at the Hilton Canopy hotel in Minneapolis.

Over the phone, an InterContinental hotel front desk employee said it was closing for the safety of the staff, but declined to comment on the specific concerns. The DoubleTree and InterContinental hotels had empty lobbies with signs out front saying they were “temporarily closed for business until further notice.” The Canopy hotel was open, but not accepting reservations.

The Canopy has been the site of noisy protests by anti-ICE demonstrators aimed to prevent agents from sleeping.

IHG did not immediately return requests for comment Sunday.

Earlier this month, Hilton and the local operator of the Hampton Inn Lakeville hotel near Minneapolis apologized after the property wouldn’t allow federal immigration agents to stay there. Hampton Inn locations are under the Hilton brand, but the Lakeville hotel is independently operated by Everpeak Hospitality. Everpeak said the cancelation was inconsistent with their policy.

Peter Noble joined dozens of other U.S. Post Office workers Sunday on their only day off from their mail routes to march against the immigration crackdown. They passed by the place where an immigration officer shot and killed Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, during a Jan. 7 confrontation.

“I've seen them driving recklessly around the streets while I am on my route, putting lives in danger," Noble said.

Letter carrier Susan Becker said she came out to march on the coldest day since the crackdown started because it's important to keep telling the federal government she thinks what it is doing is wrong. She said people on her route have reported ICE breaking into apartment buildings and tackling people in the parking lot of shopping centers.

“These people are by and large citizens and immigrants. But they're citizens, and they deserve to be here; they've earned their place and they are good people,” Becker said.

A Republican U.S. House member called for Walz to tone down his comments about fighting the federal government and instead start to help law enforcement.

Many of the officers in Minnesota are neighbors just doing the jobs they were sent to do, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer told WCCO-AM in Minneapolis.

“These are not mean spirited people. But right now, they feel like they’re under attack. They don’t know where the next attack is going to come from and who it is. So people need to keep in mind this starts at the top,” Emmer said.

Across social media, videos have been posted of federal officers spraying protesters with pepper spray, knocking down doors and forcibly taking people into custody. On Friday, a federal judge ruled that immigration officers can’t detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who aren’t obstructing authorities, including when they’re observing the officers during the Minnesota crackdown.

Contributing were Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin in Washington; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles.

People march and gather near the post office during a protest, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

People gather near the post office during a protest, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

People gather near the post office during a protest, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

People march and gather near the post office during a protest, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

People march and gather near the post office during a protest, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)