Twelve months ago, Fernando Mendoza was facing a critical transfer decision. The impact of that choice will be evident on the field Monday night in the national championship game. On Christmas Eve 2024,

Joe Burrow. Ja'Marr Chase. Justin Jefferson. The 2019 LSU Tigers team was stacked, but one Hoosier believes they'd beat them.

Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti has been mentioned as a candidate for NFL jobs. But he shot down the possibility prior to the CFP championship

The 64-year-old Cignetti inked a contract extension with Indiana that pays $11.6 million annually through the end of the 2033 season. He's financially and contractually tied to the Hoosiers, and he appears steadfast on continuing to build Indiana into a perennial national title contender.

In two years, coach Curt Cignetti has taken a program known for failure to the doorstep of euphoria. Monday, Indiana faces Miami in the College Football Playoff national championship, a sentence that doesn’t seem real, no matter how many times it is written, read or screamed at such volume that it startles the neighbors.

Alabama didn’t even manage to score a touchdown against the Hoosiers. Indiana even knocked Ty Simpson out of the game in the second half, ending Kalen DeBoer’s second season leading the Tide in the CFP quarterfinals. According to Fisher, Indiana used the UA legend as further motivation.

Indiana and Miami are scheduled to meet Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on ESPN and the ESPN app. Related: Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia Makes Career Decision After College Football Season