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Omar Cooper Jr. claims 2025 Indiana would beat 2019 LSU

Barkley-Truaxby: Barkley Truax01/17/26BarkleyTruax

Indiana WR Omar Cooper Jr. made a bold claim ahead of IU’s national championship matchup vs. Miami. According to the wideout, the current Hoosiers team could beat the likes of 2019’s LSU Tigers.

Speaking with On3’s JD PicKell, Cooper Jr. predicted with score of a fantasy matchup between 2025 Indiana and 2019 LSU. “I would say 24-21, Indiana,” Cooper Jr. said.

The 2019 LSU squad finished the season unbeaten, defeating Georgia 37-10 in the SEC Championship game before entering the four-team College Football Playoff against Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl. The Tigers beat the Sooners 63-28 before advancing to the national championship game where they dispatched Clemson 42-25.

That team was led by QB Joe Burrow, who finished that three-game stretch completing 88-126 (69.8%) of his passing attempts for 1,305 yards, 16 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Burrow won the Heisman Trophy and finished the season with 65 total touchdowns and 5,671 passing yards compared to six interceptions.

Elsewhere on that roster featured star wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire was an integral piece of that effort as well offensively. The defense also featured NFL standouts like Patrick Queen, Grant Delpit and Derek Stingley Jr., among others.

For this year’s Indiana squad, there are some similarities to that year’s squad. Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza also won the Heisman Trophy, like Burrow, and the Hoosiers also enter the 2026 national championship with an undefeated record, just like the Tigers did.

For now, it remains to be seen if Indiana can do what the Tigers did and win the championship as the unquestioned and undefeated No. 1 team in the country. After LSU went undefeated, Joe Burrow went No. 1 overall to the Cincinnati Bengals. Mendoza is expected to be one of, if not the top pick in the NFL Draft this season by the Las Vegas Raiders.

Only time will tell if Indiana ultimately can claim the title of undefeated national champions, something that hasn’t been done since the 2023-24 Michigan Wolverines became the 64th undefeated college football national champion. They’ll have to take down a Miami playing inside their home stadium to become the 65th.

Kickoff between the Hoosiers and Hurricanes is set for Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET. ESPN will air the national broadcast with Kirk Herbstreit on the call alongside Chris Fowler an Molly McGrath and Holly Rowe featured as sideline reporters.