Indiana football never won the Big Ten Football Championship Game. It’d never spent a single week as the No. 1 team in the AP top-25 poll. It’d never won a New Year’s Six Bowl Game. It’d never made it to the national championship game. Its quarterback never threw 30 or more passing touchdowns. On top of all this, it’d never dominated the national conversation in college football.
Then, well, all this. A 13-10 win over No. 1 Ohio State to claim the Big Ten title, a claim of said ranking immediately
after. Wins in the Rose Bowl and the Peach Bowl in a matter of weeks, followed by a berth in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Fernando Mendoza’s 41, and counting, touchdown passes.
Also, everyone on a television set or on social media yelling about it.
Indiana’s broken countless program records in its run through the 2025 regular season and ensuing playoff. In doing so, it seems to have broken about as many minds in the process.
It’s puzzling for sure, the Hoosiers have gone from the most losses in the history of the sport straight to the steps just below its mountaintop. All that just two years after a harrowing home win over Akron that require overtimes, plural. All thanks to seemingly the best coaching hire in the history of college football (maybe any sport, ever, really?)
The national media take factory, and other smaller operations, have had a field day with No. 1 Indiana. Maybe they’re cheating, as at least one Miami outlet and a college football analytics guy have implied, rather notably without any evidence. Maybe its that they’re just older than everyone else, a more realistic take for sure.
What seems odd is that, outside of Bloomington, there doesn’t seem to be a strong appetite to dig into Indiana’s success that doesn’t take the form of a take fired off on a podcast segment. There’s plenty of well-presented data showing how and why these Hoosiers have been so good and numerous testimonials on their work ethic, talent and other winning traits. Maybe some film study? Just watching the games? Noticing sound, smart play with clear goals in mind as every player on the field works in tandem?
Well, no. That’s hard. Lobbing accusations with reckless or even no sourcing? Saying they’re old? That’s easy! And gets interaction! Why do anything else?
There’s an appetite for content that teaches fans the game instead of the take factory that seems to have taken over the national conversation, just look at The Athletic’s poll of favorite college football analysts:
Analysts who break down the game during broadcasts or shows like Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban and Joel Klatt are comfortably at the top. Yes, they absolutely share opinions as well, but that’s not their lone role. There’s several statisticians and film breakdown folks (including from the great folks at Addicted to Quack) who’ve put in the work to find out exactly why Indiana got this good this quickly.
Th0se folks, not the ones firing off takes, are the ones who deserve your attention moving forward.
