As Indiana takes on Miami (Fla.), we have two teams fighting for the first-ever CFP national title an hour apart. This will be the first competition between the schools since 1966.
Here’s what you need to know.
How to watch the game
You can watch Indiana vs. Miami ESPN. Click here or click here to view live stats
What time is the game?
The state championship game will be held at 7:30 p.m. Here’s some information on how each team fared based on game time.
Where is the game?
The National Championship will be held at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
- Miami is the first team in CFP history to win a national championship at home.
- The Hurricanes’ home loss to Louisville this season was their only home loss over the past two seasons.
Underrated team stories
- Miami last won a BCS crown in 2001. The Hurricanes have won a combined title since 1991, with three more straight titles in 1989, 1987 and 1983. The Indiana program has never won a national championship in its history.
- Indiana is the consensus No. 1 team in the AP poll. Miami is 9-10 all-time against AP No. 1 teams and has lost its last three games.
- The Big Ten Conference is looking for its third straight CFP national championship. The SEC has the longest conference national championship streak in the CFP era, winning four times from 2019-22.
- The last two meetings between Indiana and Miami took place in 1964 and 1966, the same year Dr. Martin Luther King received the Nobel Peace Prize and met US President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House. Fast forward to Martin Luther King Day, a national holiday in 2026, and the two schools will meet again.
- In the last two games against Miami Indiana, the Hurricanes have scored 14 points in each game. Miami is 1-1 all-time against the Hoosiers by splitting those two games, but they may need more points. Indiana is 19-0 under head coach Curt Cignetti, holding opponents to 14 points or less.
Player stories
- Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is returning home to Miami for the first time in his college career in his hometown. He is 0-1 all-time against Miami and lost to the Hurricanes last year. Click here or click here for more on the story.
- Fernando Mendoza also won the Heisman. He is looking to become just the eighth player in the CFP/BCS era to win both the Heisman and a national title in the same season.
- The true freshman has won the CFP National Championship MVP award twice. Alabama linebacker Tua Tagovailoa (2018) and Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence (2019) are the only players. Could star wide receiver Malachi Toney be next on the roster if Miami wins? Earlier this week, FWAA named the 2025 offensive freshman as a freshman.
- Miami quarterback Carson Beck has experience at quarterback for Georgia’s back-to-back championships in 2021-22. However, this will be Beck’s first title game as a starter.
- Miami running back CharMar Brown also has postseason experience, leading FCS program North Dakota State to the national championship last year. He won the Jerry Rice Award as the FCS Freshman of the Year. Will Marty Brown win consecutive titles at every Division I level of college football?
The stars are out
Miami is one of America’s favorite vacation cities, so the CFP title game only enhances the stars to emerge. The College Football Playoff brought its own star power with musical guests like Calvin Harris and Peso Pluma performing on Saturday and Sunday. Mr. Worldwide himself, Pitbull, is set to perform before Monday night’s game.
That’s not all. President of the United States Donald Trump will personally participate in the match. This means improved stadium access security and more traffic around the stadium for fans during matches. Here’s what that means on the field.
- Donald Trump played in two CFP championship games as president in 2017-18 and 2019-20.
- Alabama won on the road in 2017-18. LSU won the home team in the 2019-2020 season.
- Indiana-Miami is Trump’s 12th college football game since his election in 2016 and his eighth as a sitting president.
- The home team is 2-2 since being elected president in 2016.
- As a resident president, the designated home team is 7-4.
- Indiana-Miami will be the third football game Trump has attended this year, joining Army-Navy and Lions-Commander.
- Trump’s designated home teams are 1-1 in the 2025 season.
Who did you choose?
Only 20 perfect blocks remain in the college football blocking challenge. That means 20 have picked 10, the minimum for this year’s playoffs, to advance to the national championship game. 20 of them12 chose Indiana while Miami has eight. It’s 60-40 fans picking the Hoosiers to finish the bracket perfectly.
It’s amazing that we’ve gotten this far, especially since Indiana was the most popular champion with 28.1 percent of the bracket wins, while Miami won just 1.54 percent.
Follow our perfect pitch tracker to see where the perfect pitches in the National Championship game are.
A kind of match
- Indiana and Miami are both adidas sponsored schools. It’s the first time in the BCS or CFP era that a Nike school hasn’t made it to the national championship game.
- Indiana will wear its crimson jersey. While redshirting, the Hoozers are undefeated under head coach Curt Cignetti.
- Although Miami is playing at home, the 10th-ranked Hurricanes are the team that was selected to play on the road due to their bottom seed. Miami will once again wear its white uniforms. The Hurricanes have worn this combination in their last four games (four wins) against Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, Ohio State and Ole Miss. Miami also wore all white to a win against Florida State. That means 5-0.
What is at stake?
National Championship. The stakes don’t get any higher than that. Click or click here to view the full CFP bracket.
Leave a Reply