Indiana defeats Miami to win the College Football Playoff National Championship Game

The Indiana Hoosiers are the college football national champions for the first time ever. Top-seeded Indiana defeated No. 10 Miami (Fla.) in the 2025-26 College Football Playoff National Championship Game 27-21 to secure the win.

"A lot of guts. That's what it took to win a national title," Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said.

It took a lot of guts for Cignetti to boldly believe he would turn around an Indiana program that finished 2-10, 4-8 and 3-9 into a national championship winner back when he took the job two years ago.

Now Cignetti's name is etched in history after leading Indiana to a 16-0 season — joining 1894 Yale and 2019 North Dakota State as the other 16-0 Division I football champions. Moreover, Indiana is the first new team to win their first National Championship since the 1996 Florida Gators.

Then there's the story of the winning quarterback, Fernando Mendoza. Mendoza won the national championship in his hometown, Miami, against Miami, after not being recruited by the Hurricanes. It's a redemption effort after losing to Miami last year while playing for Cal.

Mendoza earned Offensive MVP honors after completing 16 of 27 passes (59 percent) for 186 yards, rushing for a touchdown. The Hoosier signal caller had some all-time moments in the game in front of Indiana fans that overwhelmed Miami fans in their home stadium.

"I would die for my team," Mendoza said.

What a year its been for Mendoza, leaving it all out on the field. He becomes the eighth Heisman winner to win a CFP or BCS national championship.

Oh, and he got Lil Uzi Vert to come out and support, too.

Heisman winners to win a national championship Year Heisman Winner National Champion 2025 QB Fernando Mendoza Indiana 2020 WR DeVonta Smith Alabama 2019 QB Joe Burrow LSU 2015 RB Derrick Henry Alabama 2013 QB Jameis Winston Florida State 2010 QB Cam Newton Auburn 2009 RB Mark Ingram Alabama 2004 QB Matt Leinart Southern California

Defensive lineman Mikail Kamara earned Defensive MVP honors thanks to his blocked punt. Indiana's win gives the Big Ten its third straight CFP championship.

With it all said and done, Indiana has the most recent men's football undefeated champion and the most recent men's basketball undefeated champion (1975-76).

And what about YOUR brackets? Twelve finished perfect in our College Football Bracket Challenge Game. That's 12 more than have ever finished perfect in our Men's March Madness Bracket Challenge. That is a unique number here, as it's also the number of teams in the bracket, increasing the odds of your bracket finishing perfect. See our complete perfect bracket tracker to see how it happened.

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It was a dominant first half from Indiana in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, leading Miami 10-0. That makes 31 scoreless quarters from the Indiana defense and eight scoreless halves.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza has passed for 116 yards. Miami quarterback Carson Beck has passed for 49 yards. Mendoza is out-performing Beck, even with the Hurricane defense getting pressure on six of 17 (35 percent) of Mendoza's drop backs.

On the ground, Miami has struggled, too, gaining only 2.5 yards per carry. We've seen an overall lack of explosiveness from the Hurricanes in the first half. That's placed The U behind the sticks more often than not and has contributed to an offense that went 0-6 on third downs.

Yet, Miami is no stranger to scoreless first halves. Let's not forget that the Hurricanes opened the CFP with a scoreless first half against Texas A&M. The difference in that first-round game and the national title game might be that Miami WILL NOT open the second half with the football, and the Hurricanes trail.

Miami's defense NEEDS to prevent a touchdown to open the third quarter more than SpongeBob needed water at Sandy's house. If Indiana's offense can find the end zone, it'll be hard for any offense to overcome a three-score deficit against the Hoosiers. That's without factoring in the pressure of a national championship on the line.

2019-20 LSU is the last team to overcome a 10-point deficit to win a CFP title game. 2013-14 Florida State's 18-point comeback in the BCS championship is the largest comeback across the BCS and CFP era.

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