National Championship Preview: Indiana and Miami Set for a Clash of Modern-Day Cinderellas
MIAMI - Monday night’s national title game isn’t just a showdown between two red-hot football teams - it’s a meeting of two programs rewriting their own legacies in real time.
On one sideline, you’ve got Indiana. A program that, not long ago, held the dubious distinction of being the losingest team in Division I history.
Now? They’re staring down the possibility of a perfect season and the school’s first-ever national championship.
It’s not just a turnaround - it’s a resurrection.
On the other sideline, Miami’s story is just as compelling. The Hurricanes haven’t touched a national title in nearly 25 years.
They needed some help just to sneak into the playoff with two losses, then took the hard road - knocking off two top-tier SEC teams and last year’s national champs - to earn a shot at glory. And they’ll do it in front of a home crowd at Hard Rock Stadium.
So what would it mean to win it all?
Curt Cignetti, Indiana’s head coach, kept it simple: “It would mean we’re the national champion.”
Miami’s Mario Cristobal echoed that same no-nonsense approach. “It would mean we’re the national champions,” he said.
Neither coach is buying into the noise around them - not the narratives, not the hype, not the history. For both, the focus is squarely on the task at hand: a 7:30 p.m. kickoff and 60 minutes to make history.
Cristobal, in particular, has been peppered with questions about Miami’s past - the dynasties of the ‘80s, ‘90s, and early 2000s - and whether this team signals that “The U” is back. But he’s not interested in nostalgia.
“It’s nostalgia theater in this country,” Cristobal said back in September. “Everyone wants to go back, back, back.
Well, we don’t want to go back. We want to go forward and take the principles of that brand of football and we want to take it forward.”
That mindset hasn’t changed. On Sunday, Cristobal made it clear: this team is focused on the now, not the past.
“Everyone is uniquely special and different and has brought something different to the lives of all the people around them,” he said. “But I don’t see us getting caught up in any nostalgic moments or whatnot. I just really sense that our team was really focused, that they were really intent on carrying out the rest of the day’s processes, knowing the tremendous opportunity that we have.”
Indiana, for its part, might be the favorite on paper, but Cignetti isn’t letting his team get comfortable. He’s seen the buzz, the praise, the emotion - and he’s ready to shift gears.
“I think leading up to this game there’s been a lot of pro-Indiana hype, a lot of rat poison out there,” Cignetti said. “I happened to see Holly Rowe’s thing on social media this morning about our guys hugging each other at the end of practice. It is a close team, and I witnessed quite a bit of sentimentalism throughout the week from some of our seniors who we’ve been with quite a long time.”
Then he cut to the chase.
“I think it’s time to sharpen the saw now, throw those warm fuzzies out the door, that sentimentalism. It’s time to go play a game against a great opponent. We’ve got to have a sharp edge going into this game, and you don’t go to war with warm milk and cookies.”
In other words: the storylines are great, but the game still has to be played.
Two programs, two journeys, one massive moment. Whether it’s Indiana finishing off a dream season or Miami reclaiming a seat at college football’s top table, someone’s writing a new chapter Monday night. And it’s going to be must-watch football.