Please use this thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game discussion of the 2026 College Football Championship, between Indiana and Miami.
Official '26 CFB Championship, Indiana vs. Miami, game thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
There are no winners tonight. Well, maybe the refs if they royally screw it up.
Happy for one of my best friends. Head Pro at Lost Tree (where Jack lives in NPB) had a member gift him four $6K tickets for tonight. He's Ball State, wife is IU Undergrad, Law, son is All B1G IU golfer. They were in Atlanta last round, but couldn't justify Miami so the member stepped in. Not some corporate tickets, he bought them on the secondary market b/c he didn't want Brian and Vickie to miss the game. Great member!
Any truth to the rumor that the Miami players will arrive wearing camouflage outfits?
I'd bet IU - 13.5 if that was all that's offered before I'd bet on UM money line.
As I previously posted, I married a Hurricane. So I have watched this program from a distance for years. No one expected THIS from them. So, IMO, they are punching over their weight class at the moment. Just a few observations:
The Indiana QB is from south florida (in case you haven't heard). The odds of him playing in a national title game for a "visiting" team in front of his home town, against his home town team is pretty astronomical. Local media has been pretty respectful of not highlighting the family and the family has been very respectful of not making it into a WWE highlight package of "At WrestleMania, Miami will pay for not making our son their QB!" Still, there has to be pressure on Mendoza to overperform on this stage, in front of this crowd, and at the same time know that he has to drag his traditionally irrelevant, doormat football team over the finish line. Beck has done all of this already at another school and doesn't give two rips about Miami or what it means to win at this place; he's a perfect modern day college football mercenary who has nothing to really gain from winning, it's just part of the job. I can see Beck recovering from a bad start faster than Mendoza.
Miami's secondary is their weakness. They don't make the highlight reels because the d-line has a bunch of sack monsters and the LBs can stop the run. You would think that with the Heisman QB and a very talented set of WRs that you would just throw the ball at their weakness (think OSU). However, the risk when you do that and fail is that your QB looses his poise from the constant pressure and Miami can then run the football; they can dominate both lines of scrimmage which allows them to dominate time of possession and alter field position pretty consistently. I saw on ESPN that Miami typically breaks the offensive huddle with 15 seconds left on the snap clock. That's slow. If Indiana comes out 'fun and gun,' and it works, blow-out city. If not, they will have a fight on their hands.
IMO, the game will come down to penalties on Miami (they had 0 against OSU; you read that right, 0). If you see Miami getting penalized a lot or have a number of controversial calls go against them, they will probably lose. But it's more than just penalty yards. If you think our fanbase thinks the refs are out to screw us, sit with a bunch of Miami fans. The fans don't just think it, the entire University from the early shift bus driver to the president of the school BELIEVES it. So much so that the entire stadium can become fixated and incensed about a call. And you can literally watch it effect the players on the field. That's one of the main reasons why they have Irvin and other players come back on the sideline during the game. Yes it's to hype the team up and keep emotions high, but it also serves as a rallying point to stop the players from fixating on calls from the refs and to focus on the next play.
I didn't think on paper that Miami was better than OSU, Oregon, or PSU. Yet, here they are and the other three are watching from their couch. I note that Indiana beat all three of those teams. I'll take Indiana 27-24, but a bad Mendoza game or a mild penalty called game against Miami and the Hurricanes will have a very good chance to win this thing.
The Indiana QB is from south florida (in case you haven't heard). The odds of him playing in a national title game for a "visiting" team in front of his home town, against his home town team is pretty astronomical. Local media has been pretty respectful of not highlighting the family and the family has been very respectful of not making it into a WWE highlight package of "At WrestleMania, Miami will pay for not making our son their QB!" Still, there has to be pressure on Mendoza to overperform on this stage, in front of this crowd, and at the same time know that he has to drag his traditionally irrelevant, doormat football team over the finish line. Beck has done all of this already at another school and doesn't give two rips about Miami or what it means to win at this place; he's a perfect modern day college football mercenary who has nothing to really gain from winning, it's just part of the job. I can see Beck recovering from a bad start faster than Mendoza.
Miami's secondary is their weakness. They don't make the highlight reels because the d-line has a bunch of sack monsters and the LBs can stop the run. You would think that with the Heisman QB and a very talented set of WRs that you would just throw the ball at their weakness (think OSU). However, the risk when you do that and fail is that your QB looses his poise from the constant pressure and Miami can then run the football; they can dominate both lines of scrimmage which allows them to dominate time of possession and alter field position pretty consistently. I saw on ESPN that Miami typically breaks the offensive huddle with 15 seconds left on the snap clock. That's slow. If Indiana comes out 'fun and gun,' and it works, blow-out city. If not, they will have a fight on their hands.
IMO, the game will come down to penalties on Miami (they had 0 against OSU; you read that right, 0). If you see Miami getting penalized a lot or have a number of controversial calls go against them, they will probably lose. But it's more than just penalty yards. If you think our fanbase thinks the refs are out to screw us, sit with a bunch of Miami fans. The fans don't just think it, the entire University from the early shift bus driver to the president of the school BELIEVES it. So much so that the entire stadium can become fixated and incensed about a call. And you can literally watch it effect the players on the field. That's one of the main reasons why they have Irvin and other players come back on the sideline during the game. Yes it's to hype the team up and keep emotions high, but it also serves as a rallying point to stop the players from fixating on calls from the refs and to focus on the next play.
I didn't think on paper that Miami was better than OSU, Oregon, or PSU. Yet, here they are and the other three are watching from their couch. I note that Indiana beat all three of those teams. I'll take Indiana 27-24, but a bad Mendoza game or a mild penalty called game against Miami and the Hurricanes will have a very good chance to win this thing.
Thanks for the head’s up. Will help me avoid the pre-game stuff.
Yes, my friend, it is all about the U. Cannot wait to see Playmaker at the game, must see tv!
IMO 8.5 was too high. The move to 7.5 makes sense but I think that could still be a bit high. I hate betting against Cignetti, but I may have to make a small bet on Miami. The line has been over inflated by IUs recent blowouts.
I'll also look at 1st half under.
There is definitely a scenario where IU blows them out. There is also a scenario (lesser probability) that Miami blows out IU. However, in the middle lies the spread, and I think 7.5 points is probably too high.
Whats the line on number of coke bricks Michael Irvin does before the game?
Go Canes. Never cheering for a B1G team after all the crap they put us through
I don’t like either team, but I can never root for Miami still having memories of the camouflage wearing a$$hats that Penn State beat in the 80’s.
The biggest break the CFB committee got was not having a B10 officiating crew do the game.
I can never figure out, what's so hard about standing on the 10-yard line and if the punts over your head, let it go.
I wish that's still how things were done--I feel like it's now the 5 though not the 10.
I took Indiana team total over 28.5, but with my record this season, you might want to bet the opposite.
On a side note, Holly Rowe is not what I want to see on my 4k tv.
How could they not call that hit on Mendoza?
That should have been a personal foul or even targeting on Miami with the late hit on Mendosa!
I’ve seen enough to say F those Miami thugs.
Cheap shot city. Some things never change.
I’m asking myself the same question. Talk about leading with your helmet. Yes, that should have been a penalty.