The Indiana Hoosiers are on the doorstep of history in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game against the Miami Hurricanes on Monday, January 19. They're also within striking distance of a historical designation, according to some.
The Associated Press's Charles Odum believes Indiana is not only gunning for its first title as a program and to be the first team to run the table in the 12-team CFP era, but also to join elite company: the 2019/2020 LSU Tigers and the 2020/2021 Alabama Crimson Tide.
"Mendoza will return to his hometown of Miami for the national championship game against Miami on Jan. 19. It will be the first national title game in Indiana history. It also will be an opportunity to complete one of the most impressive seasons for any team in history," Odum prefaced before saying, "The runaway win over Oregon followed a similarly crushing 38-3 win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl CFP quarterfinal. Indiana outgained Alabama 407-193, a stunning margin against the proud Crimson Tide.
"Based on the demonstration of balance, power, defense and big plays in the CFP, it is not too soon to compare Indiana with the 2019 LSU and 2020 Alabama teams when considering the greatest teams in recent history."
Indiana was nowhere near as dominant as 2019 LSU
To get it out of the way before diving into the real debate, 2020 Alabama shouldn't even be in this conversation, considering all the opt-outs across the sport during the COVID-19-stricken pandemic and the shortened schedule. Nothing about that season was similar to any other year in history, and the deck was stacked in the Tide's favor, since not a single one of their players opted out.
Now, as for 2019 LSU? These Hoosiers aren't even close.
Have we already forgotten the game-winning miracle touchdown catch from Omar Cooper Jr. that it took for Indiana to keep the Penn State Nittany Lions, which had already fired James Franklin earlier in the season, at bay? Are we forgetting that Jayden Fielding's missed field goal may have been the difference between a Big Ten Championship for the Hoosiers, and another B1G title for the Ohio State Buckeyes?
Those two games alone are a fine argument, but then you have to compare the 2025 Big Ten, or more specifically, who was on IU's schedule, to the 2019 SEC, and things fall apart even further. The 2019 iterations of Alabama, the Auburn Tigers, the Georgia Bulldogs, and the Florida Gators only have one 2025 B1G squad in the same stratosphere, and that's Ohio State.
Everyone is rushing to crown Indiana CFB's new guard, but let's slow our roll a bit and accurately recall how good that LSU team really was.