As the College Football Playoff National Championship returns to Hard Rock Stadium on Monday night, the setting feels tailor-made for a Miami celebration. Home crowd. Familiar turf. Ideal weather. On paper, it’s the kind of stage the Hurricanes have historically thrived on.
But after watching Indiana’s run through this postseason, we’re both arriving at the same conclusion: this is Indiana’s championship to win.
The CFP Pick: Indiana -8.5
Indiana enters the title game as a 8.5 point favorite through the spread, and while its a big number we still like it. The Hoosiers haven’t just beaten elite programs — they’ve dismantled them. Alabama. Oregon. When the stakes were highest, Indiana didn’t blink.
There are only a handful of teams in college football history that have looked this dominant when it mattered most. You can count them on one hand. The 2001 Miami Hurricanes. Joe Burrow’s LSU. And now, this Indiana team.
They’re playing with confidence, cohesion, and an edge that’s impossible to ignore.
Indiana isn’t supposed to be here — and that’s part of what makes this run so compelling. It’s a basketball state. A basketball school. Yet this football team has completely flipped the script, winning over the country with its chemistry, energy, and joy. You can see how much these guys believe in each other. You can feel it every snap.
That mindset matters in a championship game.
Miami deserves its credit. The Hurricanes earned their place, and the noise surrounding their playoff inclusion now looks misplaced. But while Miami carries history on its side, Indiana is operating in the present — locked in, rolling, and seemingly immune to pressure.
We don’t say this lightly, but after Indiana’s last two games, it’s hard to justify picking against them.
- The prediction: Indiana 34, Miami 20.
Could history swing things back Miami’s way? Maybe. Ten years ago, if you asked which program was most likely to win a national championship in the next two decades, Miami would’ve topped the list every time. But this season isn’t about legacy. It’s about momentum — and Indiana has more of it than anyone in college football right now.
They look unstoppable. And until proven otherwise, we’re riding with the Hoosiers.
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