Then there were two. 2026 College football The season led to this: No. 1 Indiana and No. 10 Miami would meet in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game to determine the best team in the country.
Most years, the Hurricanes were viewed as the favorite against Indiana. But Miami went through an underdog phase of its own after making the playoff as the last top team.
Meanwhile, Indiana State has overcome opposing teams en route to a 15-0 record. The Hoosiers are dominant in 2025, and it looks like they’re not going away anytime soon.
They handled the semifinal game against Oregon with ease, downing the Ducks 56-22. Meanwhile, Miami defeated Ole Miss in a 31-27 thriller One of the best postseason games of the CFP era.
Of course, those semifinal games provided plenty of material to overreact to as the 2025 season comes to a close.
Indiana is the best team in the CFP era
Yes better than 2019 LSU. The Hoosiers may not have as much elite power NFL The talent — though quarterback Fernando Mendoza is a starter to go No. 1 overall in the 2026 draft — and the offense isn’t quite as explosive, but they’re a more complete team.
Indiana’s +473 point differential ranks first among schools in the playoff era (hat tip to me CBS Sports colleague Tom Fornelli). The Hoosiers have pummeled opposing teams by an average of 31.5 points per contest. Their last three wins against the blue bloods of Ohio State, Alabama and the new bloods of Oregon came by a combined score of 107-35.
Curt Cignetti’s team won all but one of its games against ranked opponents by at least 10 points. Indiana does just that in the Big Ten, one of the nation’s leading conferences.
The Hoosiers are also on pace to become the first college football program to go 16-0. Of course, they have the advantage of playing in expanded playoff years, but an unbeaten season in the modern era of college football, when parity is at an all-time high thanks to the NIL, seems like a feat that won’t be easily replicated.
After all, only four NFL teams They have completed unbeaten seasons ever, and that has only happened once after the league became a 16-game format.
Indiana vs. Miami: Early preview, odds and picks as Hoosiers will meet Hurricanes in CFP National Championship
Chip Patterson
Miami’s discipline issues will be decided against Indiana
Miami was, somehow, able to outdo itself in the Fiesta Bowl against Ole Miss. The Hurricanes committed 10 penalties for a total of 74 yards, including a scoring foul that led to cornerback Xavier Lucas being ejected. They dropped four potential interceptions.
These mistakes allowed Ole Miss to hang around and even take the lead at certain points. In the end, the Rebels made some crucial mistakes of their own — and were miserable on third down — allowing the Hurricanes to outlast Ole Miss.
This will do no good against Indiana’s well-equipped machine. The Hoosiers rank third nationally with just 3.57 penalties per game. They’re smart, disciplined, and — as we saw with D’Angelo Ponds’ pick-six to open Indiana’s semifinal win over Oregon — they’ll pounce on any mistakes the opponent makes.
In the end, discipline will make the difference in a battle between two teams that compete fairly well.
Oregon is in trouble
You have surely heard of the clutch gene if you are a sports fan. Oregon State coach Dan Lanning has the opposite.
In their last three playoff games against Power Four opponents, the Ducks have been outscored 97-66. That includes a 23-0 matchup against Big 12 champion Texas Tech this season.
Talent is not the problem with Oregon. Phil Knight’s money certainly helps, but the Ducks are always recruiting at high rates. Coach Dan Lanning has done a good job at the high school level and in the portal.
But there’s plenty of reason to be concerned about the path Oregon is on with Lanning, especially in light of their recent postseason results. This is going to be a big season for him.
The Ducks are set to lose both of their bright young coordinators. Will Stein is headed to coach Kentucky while former Pac-12 foe Tosh Lupoy will coach California.
It’s a good sign of the health of the program when assistants get head coaching jobs, and it’s a testament to what Lanning has built at the young age of 39. The next few months will be a major test of his ability to keep the ship steady.
Ole Miss is bigger than Lane Kiffin
It’s time to stop talking about Kiffin moving to LSU once the playoffs start, but the two will always be intrinsically linked given Kiffin’s time in Oxford and the chaotic nature in which he left. While Kiffin deserves his roses for elevating Ole Miss, the Rebels have clearly outgrown the need for him.
His departure did the program no favors or anything like that. Pete Goulding has shown, in a short time, that he can at least maintain – if not exceed – the level of success that Kevin has achieved. After all, Goulding has more playoff wins than Kiffin at this point, and he’s only been a head coach for three games.
Kiffin was certainly hoping he could drag some of Ole Miss’ top stars with him, but his decision galvanized the Rebels instead. Top linebacker Kewan Lacy, top linebacker Centarine Perkins, and edge rusher Princewill Omanmilin, along with a host of other key players, have already committed to returning.
Furthermore, Ole Miss is off to an impressive start in the transfer portal. The Rebels currently occupy seventh place 247 sports team transfer rankings. They are one of only two schools in the top 10 with fewer than 10 commitments so far and their average prospect grade of 89.22 is first among the top 15 transfer classes.
Four of Ole Miss’ nine transfer additions carry at least a four-star rating. That includes LSU transfer Carius Curne, the No. 1 offensive tackle in the transfer portal, who turned down Kiffin in favor of the Rebels.