Indiana completes undefeated season, beating Miami 27-21 to win 1st national title
Indiana vs. Miami preview: Keys to the national title game
Indy Star reporter Zach Osterman breaks down the Hoosiers’ surprising run, Miami’s home-field advantage, and the matchups that could decide the national championship.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - The Hoosiers have completed one of the best program turnarounds in college football history.
Indiana has won the 2026 national championship.
How it happened:
Fernando Mendoza bulldozed his way into the end zone and Indiana bullied its way into the history books Monday night, toppling Miami 27-21 to put the finishing touch on a rags-to-riches story, an undefeated season and the national title.
The Heisman Trophy winner 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.
Indiana would not be denied.
Mendoza's TD gave turnaround artist Curt Cignetti’s team a 10-point lead — barely enough breathing room to hold off a frenzied charge by the hard-hitting Hurricanes, who bloodied Mendoza’s lip early, then came to life late behind 112 yards and two scores from Mark Fletcher but never took the lead.
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - JANUARY 19: Head coach Curt Cignetti of the Indiana Hoosiers hoists the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy after defeating the Miami Hurricanes 27-21 in the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championsh
The backstory:
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 Cignetti arrived two years ago to embark on a revival for the ages.
Indiana finished 16-0 — using the extra games afforded by the expanded 12-team playoff to match a perfect-season win total last compiled by Yale in 1894.
In a bit of symmetry, this undefeated title comes 50 years after Bob Knight’s basketball team went 32-0 to win it all in that state’s favorite sport.
Players like Mendoza — a transfer from Cal who grew up just a few miles away from Miami’s campus, "The U" — certainly don’t come around often.
Two fourth-down gambles by Cignetti in the fourth quarter, after Fletcher’s second touchdown carved the Hurricanes' deficit to three, put Mendoza in position to shine.
The first was a 19-yard-completion to Charlie Becker on a back-shoulder fade those guys have been perfecting all season. Four plays later came a decision and play that wins championships.
Cignetti sent his kicker out on fourth-and-4 from the 12, but quickly called his second timeout. The team huddled on the field and the coach drew up a quarterback draw.
Mendoza, not known as a run-first guy, slipped one tackle, then took a hit and spun around. He kept his feet, then left them, going horizontal and stretching the ball out — a ready-made poster pic for a title run straight from the movies.
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - JANUARY 19: Aiden Fisher #4 of the Indiana Hoosiers celebrates during the second quarter against the Miami (FL) Hurricanes in the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship at Hard Rock Stadium on January 19, 2026 in
Big picture view:
This national title completes one of the biggest program turnarounds in college football history.
Indiana, once the losingest program in college football history, has claimed an undefeated national title in Year 2 under Cignetti.
The older roster, led by Mendoza, took down one of the most talented rosters in college football. Miami, which will certainly have multiple first-round draft picks, were outdone by the expected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and a roster pieced together by the new-age transfer portal.