The Indiana Hoosiers capped off a perfect season Monday night with a 27-21 victory over Miami in the national championship bringing the college football season to a close. Just as they had all year, Curt Cignetti’s team rose to the occasion and made key plays when it mattered most led by their Heisman Trophy–winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
With the win, the Hoosiers became the first team since Yale in 1894 to finish a season 16-0 and the third straight Big Ten program to take home the title. Monday night’s win was the crowning achievement in what has been an incredible two-year’s under Cignetti, completing the greatest turnaround in college football history.
Here are the three biggest takeaways from Indiana’s 2025 national championship season.
A New Model for Success - Culture Wins
For years in college football the most common path to winning seemed to be recruiting the best players and compiling elite talent. Curt Cignetti put that notion to rest with this year’s Indiana team that was a group of overlooked “misfits” who came together to form what looked like the perfectly constructed team.
While many may not have viewed these Hoosiers as the most talented on paper, Cignetti identified what others missed, developed them within his system, and got them to fully buy into his culture of winning football. He blended players like low level recruits who began their college careers with him at James Madison with guys like Charlie Becker, who barely saw the field last season and most of the first half of this year, but stuck it out and made numerous big-time plays when his number was called.
It is important to note that Cignetti likely did not recruit top-tier talent when he arrived in Bloomington because Indiana as a program was not in a position to attract top-tier talent. However, that is no longer the case. Now with a national championship, it will be interesting to see how Cignetti goes about building his roster.
Anyone Can Win a National Title
Indiana’s quick rise has created a new hope in college football, proving that climbing to the top and winning a national championship is truly possible for just about any program. In recent years, college football has been dominated by the bluebloods such as Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State, with a feeling of just a handful of teams entering the season with a legitimate chance to win it all. The introduction of NIL and paying players made it seem like the rich would get richer and the same elite programs would continue to dominate.
Indiana’s transformation over the past two seasons has completely changed that narrative. If a program like Indiana, that not long ago was the losingest in college football, can win it all, then anyone can.
Their quick turnaround shows that with the right people in place and a genuine willingness to invest in winning, any program can rise. While it is easier said than done, and coaches like Curt Cignetti do not come around often, the Hoosiers have at least shown that is possible and have opened the door for others.
Curt Cignetti Is One of the Greatest Coaches of All Time
What Curt Cignetti has done over the past two seasons is one of the most impressive feats in sports history and Indiana’s decision to hire him in November 2023 may go down as the greatest hiring in any field. What makes the story even better is that Cignetti basically called his shot through all the viral clips and sound bites while everyone laughed, and now he sits atop the college football world.
In a sport judged so harshly by wins, losses, and championships, it is crazy to see Cignetti win a national title in only his second year at a power program, especially one where it seemed impossible to have this level of success. Meanwhile, coaches like Ryan Day, Kirby Smart, and Dan Lanning currently going through it have needed multiple seasons at elite programs to fully break through and get over the hump. In my mind, that is a major part of what has already made Cignetti one of the greatest college football coaches of all time.