Midwest grit over SEC excuses: Cignetti says we don't cry as ESPN promotes the conference

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti blasted the SEC during Big Ten media days, rejecting the conference’s promo-driven complaints and saying, “we don’t cry a river” when things go wrong as ESPN pushes SEC prominence. The piece notes the SEC’s shift to nine conference games, the ongoing playoff rhetoric led by Greg Sankey and ESPN, and contrasts the SEC narrative with examples from Ohio State and Notre Dame, urging teams to focus on winning rather than excuses.