Monday night saw the University of Indiana Hoosiers defeat the University of Miami Hurricanes 27-21 and be crowned College Football National Champions. The win caps off one of the most improbable turnarounds in sports history, one which is already drawing comparisons to Leicester City’s 5000-1 Premier League triumph in 2016. In the space of only two years, Curt Cignetti and the Indiana Hoosiers have gone from the team with the most losses in college football history to undefeated champions.
Unlike the NFL, college football is more fan orientated. The majority of fans and players are students, providing a unique backdrop and atmosphere in comparison to the professional leagues in America, which can feel hollow and corporate in comparison. The sport is so popular that of the 20 biggest stadiums in the world, 12 of them are home to a college football team! Even given Indiana’s meek sporting history, the university has seen success in the past, most notably winning five basketball championships.
Indiana is one of the highest attended universities in the US. It boasts the largest living alumni base in the United States at over 800,000 former students, one of whom is former president of Ireland Michael D. Higgins. Until recently, college sports in America were not unlike the GAA; players could not be paid by their colleges. That has since changed, and some players are receiving millions of dollars from their colleges, or millions in endorsements.
That is why Indiana winning has been such a shock.
When these new rules were put in place, many suspected the big colleges, such as Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, and the Hoosiers opponents Miami, would continue to dominate, taking the best players from smaller colleges as they pleased. Indiana, though, has proved the opposite.
Relaxed transfer rules meant when Indiana hired head coach Curt Cignetti in 2024, he was able to bring some of the best players from his old college along with him. In doing so, he brought the school their first 10-win season in its 139-year history, a feat many were convinced could not be bettered.
They were wrong. Coming into this season, Cignetti secured a key transfer. Having lost his quarterback to graduation, he managed to secure the services of another in University of California transfer Fernando Mendoza.
Mendoza was electric all season, winning the Heisman Trophy, which is awarded to the best player in college football each season. He scored the winning touchdown of the National Championship game and is now the presumptive first pick in the 2026 NFL draft in April. All while uploading his achievements to his only social media app, LinkedIn.
The final was played in the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins and Indiana’s opposition, the Miami Hurricanes. Mendoza is a Miami native, growing up three kilometres from the University of Miami campus. Ironically, college football turning its back on a more GAA-esque local player philosophy cost them the country’s best talent.
The turnaround is one of the best sports stories of recent times. The Hoosiers went from punching bag to heavyweight champs within two years. But Cignetti wouldn’t have expected anything else, as he stated an early press conference.
“It’s pretty simple, I win. Google me.”
