Miami Nice
by GEORGE SOMERVILLE
The Finale to the 2025/ 26 college football season is upon us!
In what has been an outstanding college football season, the National Championship game will be contested between two teams we did not think would reach this stage – with all due respect to Miami and Indiana.
So on Monday night in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, the Hoosiers will play for their first National title in their 138-year history. Miami will be looking to add a 7th National Championship to its impressive tally.
But before we get to Monday, let’s dive into some of the stories dominating the headlines during National Championship week!
National Championship Stories
Hoosiers are new kids on the block
The Indiana Hoosiers’ first recorded football game was in 1873. If your math isn’t what it could be, that was 142 years ago. And during the 141 years prior to 2026, the Indiana Hoosiers have never won a National Championship. In fact, the Hoosiers had never won a conference championship. And the last time Indiana made it to a bowl game was in 1993. Prior to Head Coach Curt Cignetti taking over the reigns Indiana had racked up an astonishing 715 losses in their history – more than any other team in FBS history.
So yes, until Cignetti arrived in Bloomington two years ago and rolled up his sleeves, the Hoosiers were the losingest football team in FBS history.
But no more. The Hoosiers are the talk of the town, no, the talk of the whole of college football. Cignetti baulks at the notion that this is a Cinderella story and was asked this on Monday during the Head Coach press conferences.
”If you look at the record since Indiana started playing football and relative to the success we’ve had the last two years, we’ve broken a lot of records here in terms of wins,championships, postseason games, top-10 wins on the road, et cetera, top-10 wins, period”, Cignetti said in response to the question about this being a fairytale story.
“So it’s been kind of surreal, but you get it done with the right people, properly led. You’ve got to have a blueprint, plan in process. You’ve got to have the right people on your staff and the right people in the locker room. And then down in the locker room, we’ve got a lot of older guys that have high character, great leadership traits. They can buy into the team vision. They’re very consistent, day in and day out, in terms of being committed and disciplined and working hard toward improvement, staying focused on the goal, keeping the eye on the bull’s-eye, so to speak. And being able to sort of enter every Saturday prepared with the right mindset and then putting it on the field.
It’s all about people. And then you’ve got to have a blueprint and a plan. And I think there’s no question about it, that’s what’s gotten us to this point”.
So while this is uncharted territory for the Hoosiers, you get the strong sense that Cignetti and his team can tackle anything that is thrown at them.
Money, Money, Money
With this being Indiana’s first appearance in a National Championship game and Miami playing on home soil, you might expect high demand for the game. Although “high” might not be quite enough of a description. Huge and off the scale might do justice to the scramble for tickets.
Of course, we’ve seen sky-high demand and prices before. But on this occasion, with 5 days before the game as I write this, prices are steep.
The “get in” price, i.e. the minimum cost to buy a ticket on a reseller site, in this case Ticketmaster has broken $3,000. And remember this is a “nosebleed” seat which had an original face value price of around $350. Getting yourself closer to the action is going to have you remortage the house or sell a body part. Currently on Ticketmaster a row 5 seat in the 200’s section on the 50 yard line is being sold for $16,000. And that’s not even the most expensive seat!
It’s no great surprise that Miami fans are looking to turn this home game into, well, a “home” game. Equally, Indiana fans have travelled incredibly well so far this season and have packed out the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, making Mercedes-Benz Stadium feel like an extension of Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
So could this be the most expensive year to attend a National Championship game? It is heading that way, and whichever team’s fanbase wins the turf war for seats will certainly have to dig deep into very deep pockets!
That's entertainment
It wouldn’t be a college football game anywhere without some entertainment. And the National Championship game is no different. But let’s be clear, this isn’t the Super Bowl, so we ain’t getting Beyonce riding onto the field at Hard Rock Stadium on a horse.
But it is Miami that has a reputation for throwing a party with some Latin flair. This week, the musical acts for the pre-game fan zones were announced, along with the halftime entertainment.
There will be free concerts across the weekend for fans attending the Fan Village, located on South Beach.
Scotland’s own Calvin Harris will headline on Saturday night, which is sure to kick-start the weekend’s celebrations ahead of Monday’s game. Joining Harris on Saturday night will be John Summit and Xandra.
Sunday’s offering has a distinctly Latin flair, with Peso Plum, the Latin Mafia, and Greeicy on stage in the Fan Zone, sure to get the locals moving to the beat.
On Monday, rapper Pitfall and Latin country music star Kat Luna will headline the stage at the Allstate National Championship Tailgate to ensure the day’s atmosphere carries over into game time.
As for the game itself, the halftime show will revert to a traditional college football offering, showcasing the marching bands from both schools.
So in essence, there is something for everyone!
Cristóbal recalls his high school days
It’s fair to say that Miami Head Coach Mario Cristobal is a Miami Hurricane through and through. Cristobal has spoken openly about his decision to return from Oregon, where things were going very well, to Miami, which was struggling. However, Coral Gables was and is home to Cristóbal, so when his Alma Mater came calling in its hour of need, Mario answered.
Cristobal was born in Miami, went to High school in Miami and studied and played football at “The U”.
In fact, this week during the early press conferences, one reporter brought up the coincidence that Cristóbal played High School football with Fernando Mendoza’s father. So unsurprisingly, Cristóbal was asked if he had any memories of that time. Mario is all business and a pretty intense guy – well, certainly the side I have seen of him so far. And he answered this way. Remember, this is a high school game more than 35 years ago…
”We went 6-4. We won the district championship in a three-way tiebreaker. They used to have a Kansas City tiebreaker down here in Dade County where you put the ball on the 10-yard line and flip a coin.
It was us, Miami Beach, Coral Gables. Carlos Huerta, great Miami kicker, kicked the winning kick. We won the district title. We played number one Southridge in the state championship.
We punted. Robert Bailey fumbled the punt. He’ll deny it, but he did. We recovered. Huerta kicked the field goal and we beat the number one team in the state.
And then we lost the next week in sectionals to Carol City, who was coached by Walt Frazier, one of the best of all time ever to do it – just an awesome time for Dade County football. Just awesome memories”.
So, yes. Mario remembers.
Home and away
As I mentioned earlier, the Miami Hurricanes are the first team ever to play a National Championship game at their home stadium.
A quirk of the draw is that Miami is actually considered the ‘road’ team in this fixture.
Which throws up some interesting logistical challenges for the Hurricanes. Although Head Coach Mario Cristobal has been at pains to point out that Miami’s game-day preparation will be exactly as it normally is. And now I’m starting to understand why those game day preparations aren’t going to change.
Interestingly, confirmation just came through that Miami will occupy the home team locker room.
So not really the road team….
UK fans cheer on from across the pond
So while the game is being played over 4,000 miles away, what about the fans back in the UK?
College football fans in the UK have enjoyed unprecedented TV coverage of the regular and postseason via DAZN, and the final game will be no different. But for those fans who want to take it one step further, there have been watch parties dotted about the country to watch the games alongside like-minded fans. As you might expect with a sizeable US ex-pat base, London has seen its fair share of these.
Belushi’s and the Maple Leaf have long been the haunts of those watching American sports in those wee small antisocial hours we all endure. But in recent years, Passyunk Avenue has become a dedicated venue, especially their Waterloo venue, which has held regular watch events throughout the season for Georgia, Tennessee, Michigan and Texas fans.
A new venue, The Loose Box, has taken college football viewing to a new level, with memorabilia hanging from the walls and ceilings, and even reminders of great college football moments in the toilets!
The Loose Box has had full houses for the CFB Playoff semifinals, with the IU Club of the UK and the BIG10 Alumni Network set to host a National Championship viewing party alongside Miami fans. General Manager Howard Berry expects a full house on Monday.
It’s awesome to know that there’s an ever-growing pocket of fans in the UK hooting & hollering for their teams!
GEORGE SOMERVILLE
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WRITER
GEORGE IS A LONG STANDING FANATIC OF LIFE AND FOOTBALL IN THE DEEP SOUTH AND WRITES HIS WEEKLY COLUMN CALLED “IT’S ONLY SEC” FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. HE IS ALSO CO-HOST AND ONE THIRD OF THE COLLEGE CHAPS PODCAST, THE UK’S FIRST PODCAST DEDICATED TO THE COLLEGE GAME.