The Indiana Hoosiers are National Champions for the first time. The team beat the Miami Hurricanes 27-21 on Monday night to take home college football’s most prestigious title.
the largest-ever odds for an eventual winner of the National Championship
The feat is even more impressive as their odds at the start of the season to come out victorious were a lengthy +4500. They are the largest-ever odds for an eventual winner of the National Championship. Indiana’s over/under regular-season win total was also set at 8.5 wins by many sportsbooks before the team went on to secure an undefeated 16-0 record. This was the first time that a top team went undefeated entering the season since Yale in 1894.
Head coach Curt Cignetti put together a team of players who had been overlooked by other programs. They had no standout superstars of note before the season and were known as the “losingest” program in the history of college football. This quickly changed, as the team’s quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy in December, making him college football’s standout star.
Indiana’s victory gives hope to other college programs and fights against the narrative that you need big financial backing and elite recruits to win. Cignetti built a roster through new transfer rules and a relatively modest budget of $61m.
