5 takeaways from the college football National Championship game
Hoo, hoo, hoo, Hoosiers!
Seeing the Indiana University Hoosiers win the College Football Playoff National Championship Monday night was the culmination of a season filled with notable lessons. Here are a few from my perspective:
1. In sports – as in many other matters – the experts are often wrong. The same people who tried to justify the exclusion of Notre Dame from the college football playoffs dissed Indiana all season long, including leading up to and throughout the playoffs and even just before the national championship game. They were wrong about the talent, toughness and tenacity of the Indiana team generally. They were wrong about the team’s 2024 season being a “fluke.” They were wrong about the “weak” teams Indiana beat in 2025 during its regular season and the players’ readiness to face “tough” teams like Alabama in the Rose Bowl (Indiana 38 – Alabama 3) and Oregon in the Peach Bowl (Indiana 56 – Oregon 22). They were wrong about Hoosier coach Curt Cignetti’s ability to take the “losingest” team in college football history to the playoffs and the national championship.
They were wrong about the “dominance” of the SEC. They were wrong about the Big Ten, which has now had three separate teams win three consecutive national championships: Michigan in 2024, Ohio State in 2025, and now Indiana in 2026.
They were wrong about everything that mattered, and it’s glorious seeing them eat crow. The only thing that could be better than watching Indiana defy every negative expectation would be having my alma mater Notre Dame win the national championship next year.
And speaking of which …
2. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is a class act. After the crushing disappointment of Notre Dame’s wrongful exclusion from the college football playoffs (yes, Miami belonged in the playoffs; no, Alabama didn’t), Freeman has conducted himself with his characteristic tact, grace and professionalism. When he was invited to be on the ESPN’s “GameDay” panel for the national championship game along with Nick Saban, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee, it would have been easy to politely decline. He didn’t. Instead, he came decked out in one of his stylish plaid suits sporting an “ND” lapel pin and offered his observations with insight and humor. (True, I would have liked to see him “go with his heart” and predict Indiana to be the winner, but Miami is an ACC team after all, and the Fighting Irish play them again next fall.)
3. Name, image and likeness and the transfer portal aren’t “the end of college football.” Football (and sports generally) is just like any other human endeavor, including business. Everyone who has ever built a successful business knows that sure, you need money; it can buy a lot of things and pay for much-needed resources and wonderful luxuries in life. But throwing money at something doesn’t guarantee success. (Teams whose players made more NIL money this past year lost to Indiana.) Furthermore, there are plenty of things you need to be successful that money can’t buy. Money doesn’t buy character. It doesn’t buy sportsmanship. It doesn’t buy grit or determination in the face of overwhelming odds. It doesn’t buy courage.
Indiana had all that in spades this year, and more, including strong leadership, consistent execution, a do-or-die attitude, an incredibly cohesive team and unflagging confidence in the face of relentless underestimation by the “experts.”
That – plus money – is what it takes to attract and keep good players, and to win football games.
4. Character still matters. Good sportsmanship matters. Faith matters. The postgame handshakes and congratulatory words are among the traditions that bolster the sport and all who play it. Miami quarterback Carson Beck did himself no favors when – unlike other Miami players – he left the field after his team’s defeat without shaking hands with his Indiana counterpart, Fernando Mendoza, the Indiana team, the coaches or the officials. For his part, Mendoza is among many college players we saw throughout the season who are unafraid to proclaim their faith and give credit to God (and their families, coaches and teammates) for their successes. This is the kind of behavior that inspires the next generation of young people and gives us older folks hope for the future.
5. Yes, other teams can do what Indiana did. Notwithstanding what the talking heads are saying, the “Cinderella story” of the 2025-26 Indiana football season is like others we’ve seen before. Nobody thought the 1980 U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team could beat the Soviet Union, either. Until they did. Or that hockey players from Soviet countries would ever be able to play on U.S. teams. Until they could. In sports, in business, in politics, we see incredible comebacks and unlikely victories. Historically, humans have a tendency to defy the odds when they are really motivated to do so.
In his press conference following the championship victory over Miami, Coach Cignetti described his philosophy thusly: “I think we sent a message, first of all, to society that if you keep your nose to the grindstone and work hard and you’ve got the right people, anything’s possible.”
Boom. There it is.
What’s remarkable is not so much that Coach Cignetti and his team achieved the pinnacle of success in college football, but that so few people recognize the consistency with which the rules by which Cignetti plays produce great results.
Congratulations to Coach Cignetti, the Hoosiers and their fans on a well-deserved and hard-earned victory. We will see you next year.