Indiana bullied its way into the history books tonight, toppling Miami 27-21 to put the finishing touch on a rags-to-riches story, an undefeated season and its first national title.
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza finished with 186 yards passing, but it was his tackle-breaking, sprawled-out 12-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-4 with 9:18 left that defined this game — and the Hoosiers’ season.
The College Football Playoff trophy now heads to the most unlikely of places: Bloomington, Indiana — a campus that endured a nation-leading 713 losses over 130-plus years of football before coach Curt Cignetti arrived two years ago to embark on a revival for the ages.
Indiana achieved one more first to end its magical season full of firsts: The national champion Hoosiers are No. 1 in the final Associated Press Top 25 college football poll.
After beating Miami in the College Football Playoff title game to cap a 16-0 season that was unprecedented in the modern era, the Hoosiers on Tuesday became the third straight Big Ten team to finish on top of the rankings. Indiana’s championship and No. 1 final ranking followed those of fellow Big Ten teams Ohio State in 2024 and Michigan in 2023.
No. 2 Miami (13-3) moved up eight spots and ended with its highest ranking since the 2002 season, when it was second behind Ohio State. The 2003 Miami team had been the most recent to finish in the top 10.
Mississippi (13-2), which lost to Miami in the CFP semifinals after it beat Tulane and Georgia following coach Lane Kiffin’s departure for LSU, was No. 3, its highest final ranking since 1962.
No. 4 Oregon (13-2) finished in the top 10 for a third straight year and No. 5 Ohio State was in the final top 10 for the 12th straight year. The Big Ten had three teams in the final top five for the second straight year.
Georgia (12-2), Texas Tech (12-2), Texas A&M (11-2), Alabama (11-4) and Notre Dame (10-2) rounded out the top 10.
The Bulldogs were No. 6 in the final poll for the second straight season and have ended in the top 10 every since since 2017. Texas Tech is a season-ending top-10 team for the first time. Texas A&M hadn’t been ranked in a final poll season since Jimbo Fisher’s 2020 team was No. 4. Alabama, which had ended every season between 2008-23 in the top 10, was back after slipping to No. 17 last year.
Notre Dame won 10 straight games following an 0-2 start, was left out of the playoff and opted to not play in a bowl game. The Irish slipped one spot and were ranked in a ninth straight final poll.
The Hoosiers were No. 20 in the preseason poll after going 11-2 in Curt Cignetti’s first season. They earned their then-highest ranking ever at No. 3 after they won at Oregon to go 6-0. They moved up to No. 2 the following week and stayed there for seven straight polls. Their 13-10 win over Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game pushed them to No. 1 heading into the playoff.
