Barstool founder Dave Portnoy is no lover of the SEC, pretty obviously, given that he's a Michigan fan— but this latest take that he's trotted out is far beyond the pale.
After Indiana's big road win over the Oregon Ducks last weekend, the Hoosiers rose to the no. 3 spot in the nation, behind Ohio State and Miami. The Texas A&M Aggies are just behind them, at the no. 4 spot, but they have a claim on that no. 3 spot as well— though Indiana's victory over Oregon is probably more impressive than A&M's over Notre Dame, A&M's body of work is maybe more impressive overall.
Portnoy clearly doesn't bring a lot of nuance to the table in this discussion, however. He's obviously beaten down by the SEC's relative dominance and depth when compared to the Big 10, and he took the chance to take a jab at them for that reason— but the tack he took just doesn't make sense.
Dave Portnoy claims Indiana would beat "every team in the SEC by double digits"
Portnoy let his impression of Indiana maybe take him a little too far:
Indiana would beat every team in the Sec by double digits. Very impressed with them
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) October 11, 2025
Look, all you need to say is that you're impressed with Indiana. That's all! That's all you need.
Obviously, impressions are subject to change, but there's a high likelihood that the Hoosiers, at some point this year, will run into a SEC team— and if Vegas decides that spread to be less than ten points, I trust that Portnoy will be putting his money where his mouth is.
Of course, on a neutral field, there's no chance that Indiana would be favored by 10 points against the top shelf of the SEC. According to ESPN's SP+, they would currently be favored against Texas A&M by about 2.5 points, and that's entirely based on the premise that Indiana has a better defense— which I think is highly questionable at the moment, given what the Aggies have accomplished over the last few games.
Again according to SP+, the Hoosiers would only be favored by 3 over Missouri, Oklahoma, and Ole Miss right now. That means that the Aggies would be favored on their home field, and it would be a pick 'em if the Hoosiers visited any of these three SEC teams.
There's good reason to be impressed with what Cignetti and the Hoosiers have done so far this year. But this is simply a bridge too far— and overselling them isn't helping anyone.