A Night Of Greatness That Could Inspire Hope For Gator Nation.
Updated: Jan 23
Was Indiana-Miami The Ultimate College Football Moment?
Good news, bad news. Thanks Indiana, for making every losing fan base in college football delusional enough to think they can become undefeated national champions in just two years.
And now another 66-year-old coach can be “discovered” and then transform a basketball school into a football powerhouse as Kurt Cignetti appeared to do with such ease.
Players without pedigree can now buy into the antiquated concept of team first which could blow away the more talented BlueBloods.
And a resurrected 3-star quarterback could play like a 9-star as Fernando Mendoza did, winning everything from the Heisman Trophy to a natty MVP and could be rewarded as the No. 1 NFL Pick -- if not the Nobel Peace Prize that our president so covets. One he could claim for real.
Thanks Indiana — but I jest about the “bad news.” Schools like Florida, stuck in a cycle from the penthouse to the outhouse, can now envision a pathway toward a return to greatness and immediate results from Jon Sumrall, the firebrand some 23 years younger.
The championship game will be remembered in the future not only as how college football saved the day, but how it saved itself in the process.
Maybe the most absurb thing about this is Indiana has now put together the most recent undefeated seasons in major college basketball (1976) and football (2025).
Consider that the Hoosiers had as many wins over AP Top 10 teams this season (6-0) as they had in their entire history as a program coming into the season (6-116-1).
The Hoosiers didn’t just run the table; they polished it, waxed it and sold naming rights. Sixteen and oh, a perfect season capped by a 27–21 win over Miami, as if Indiana had been secretly stockpiling football horsepower behind the Assembly Hall all these years.
Cignetti walked in two years ago looking like a man who had already coached three lifetimes and had come to Bloomington mainly to enjoy a quiet funeral. Instead, he took a 3–9 cadaver and turned it into a 27–2 monster and a 16–0 champion, a feat that ought to come with its own wing in Canton and a federal investigation.
He did it with seven old warhorses from James Madison, some portal mercenaries, a rebuilt offensive line and a system that uses every inch of grass like it’s being billed by the yard.
Indiana, which once treated football as something that happened between basketball seasons, suddenly looked like one of those soulless superpowers it used to watch on New Year’s Day from the couch.
Somewhere in there, the university tossed him a new eight-year contract just to make sure he didn’t decide to go rebuild the Chicago Bears in his spare time. He responded by winning the whole sport and giving a victory speech that basically boiled down to: “We won the national championship at Indiana University. It can be done.”
That’s not a quote, that’s a threat to the rest of the FBS. And a bouquet of hope to Gator Nation.
Without jumping the gun on exuberance, there are some good signs. Like Steve Spurrier saying he sees a "little bit" of Cignetti in Sumrall. And Tim Tebow's response when asked how he liked the new Gator coach: "I liked him the first time I met him. And I like him even more now that I've spent some time with him."
As for the beautiful Indiana season and finale, I found it downright thrilling. In my more than a half century as a journalist, I have been blessed to cover in person some of these magnificent moments:
Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record … Jack Nicklaus winning the 1986 Masters at age 46 when people thought he was done.… Great race horses winning the triple crown — all six races —Secretariat and Ocala’s Affirmed … Joe Namath and the New York Jets upsetting the powerful Colts in Super Bowl III … The US hockey team upsetting Russia to win the gold medal in Lake Placid …The Miami Dolphins going unbeaten …
And, of course, on a personal level, our beloved Gators winning three national championships – especially the one in 1996 with Coach Steve Spurrier.
This time I had no skin in the game and wasn’t even there to cover it in person. But for a single season and its conclusive ending, I don’t think any of them could top the Indiana’s title game and a season for drama and story line. And that’s said with me choking back my SEC prejudice and natural distaste for the Big Ten.
The Indiana story had almost everything. The championship played at the highest level, almost flawlessly (discounting the zebras). And oddly enough, it came during a season and when we felt like college football had been destroyed.
Instead it brought us great joy with the ultimate conclusion to a season that we thought perhaps was lost in space.
I am so grateful to have been able to witness what may have been the greatest season concluded by the greatest game that I have ever seen.
I almost feel like I owe a personal thank you to Cignetti and Mendoza for their mighty contributions.
Instead, I will close with this from Fernando Mendoza, who keeps this Mark Twain quote in his phone that he says inspired his decision to leave Cal and transfer to IU:
“So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Are you in Gator fans?
One of your best works ever. As I told Lauren after the game, well now no one that coaches have any excuses or needs a FIVE-year plan!
1st time commenting and this article is truly outstanding. Thank you for summing up our feelings for the game and Indiana's success. They didn't just represent the Big 10 but all of college football fans. As a Gator fan who has attended all three of Nattys, this left a warm spot in the heart, not just beating Miami but giving everyone that sense of hope this spring that there's a Rudy, Tebow or Cig in us that anything is possible. Thank you