The college football season concluded on Jan. 19, as the Indiana Hoosiers under second-year head coach Curt Cignetti won a 27-21 national championship game against Mario Cristobal’s Miami Hurricanes. The tightly-contested game, and the post-game confrontations, marked the end of a highly anticipated, and highly unusual, college football season. In a season of storylines, here’s what the National Championship has left us wondering about.

The rise of Indiana

Indiana University (IU)’s football program has been a perennial bottom-tier team for nearly its entire existence. Before 2024, they only had three winning seasons in the entire 21^st century (one of those being the Covid-shortened 2020 season), did not have a bowl win since 1991 and had more all-time losses than any other team in college football.

That all changed in 2024, when they hired Curt Cignetti, the coach at the surging James Madison University and a former assistant to coaching legend Nick Saban. In his first season at IU in 2024, he led the team to an 11-2 record and a playoff appearance, only losing to the eventual champions and runners-up in Ohio State and Notre Dame, respectively. In year two, Cignetti and Indiana went from contending to dominating, racking up a 16-0 season with wins over defending champions Ohio State, Oregon (twice), Alabama, and Miami. Starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza became the first-ever Heisman Trophy winner in the school’s history, and they won as many postseason games this season (3) as the team had won in their entire history before this year.

Beyond just making school history, the 2025 Hoosiers were an all-time great team. They had the second-highest point differential of any team in CFB since 1956, and they finished in the top 5 in both total offense and total defense, one of only three championship-winning teams in the 21^st century to do so, alongside Georgia in 2022 and Clemson in 2018. Their 16-0 season makes them one of only two teams in history with this record, with the other being the 1894 Yale Bulldogs.  Whatever the future holds for Indiana, their turnaround in the last two seasons has been remarkable.

The Return of The U

Miami may not have won the title, but they proved that The U is truly back in the national conversation for the first time in over two decades. Miami last won a national championship in 2001, and while they’ve remained competitive in most years, no Miami team has managed to fully recapture the dominance (and the revilement) that Miami held for several decades around the end of the 20^th century.

A 13-3 record and wins over Ohio State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and historic rival Notre Dame inspire confidence that one of the best college football programs in history might be on the upswing once again. Despite some miscues and a pair of tough losses against SMU and Louisville (losses which cost them a shot at the ACC title game), Miami battled through their season, snuck into the playoffs as the last at-large team, and stormed their way through a string of upsets into the national championship. With many of their key players, including standout freshman receiver Malachi Toney, returning for next season, the Hurricanes are a team to watch in 2026.

The Decline of the SEC

2026’s national championship game marks the third year in a row that no team from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) has made it to the title game. Ole Miss was the only SEC team to make the final 4, while the SEC’s blue bloods in Alabama and Georgia both fell in the quarterfinals. The absence of SEC teams from the finals is historically notable; before 2024’s championship matchup between Michigan and Washington, at least one SEC school had participated in the previous eight title games, winning six of those eight. Across the 21^st century so far, the SEC has 14 national championships, with Alabama alone contributing six of those titles and nine total appearances in the championship game.

Time will tell if the SEC has lost its advantage or if this is a mere statistical anomaly. More pressing might be whether the AP poll, the playoff committee, and journalists will adjust their models to account for the SEC’s decline. Thus far, all signs indicate that the CFB world will continue to overhype the SEC no matter what the on-field results look like.

NIL and Increasing Parity

The addition of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) payments to the college sports world has massively changed the world of college football. While there have been negative consequences, most notably the massive rise in student transfers in search of higher pay deals, it has permitted historically bad teams to financially recruit higher-quality players by promising them higher NIL deals and greater playing time.

Part of Indiana’s success is likely a direct result of NIL, as the Hoosiers have a large and active alumni and donor network that has helped fund their program into the new era. Meanwhile, teams like Alabama that relied on deep benches and players being willing to stick it out to learn from their coaches have lost much of their power. Talented players deeper on depth charts are now having to consider whether it’s smart to move to a smaller team, become a starter, and get a big NIL payout. With Indiana, a team built out of misfits, transfers, and depth-chart players, taking home the title, expect more players to go hunting for their next big opportunity.

In the recently expanded NBA playoffs, 16 teams entered the tournament and 8 currently remain. Many analysts and fans alike have celebrated the parity of this year’s tournament as only the Phoenix Suns have truly separated themselves from every other team both in the regular season and in the playoffs in terms of a win-loss record. Bracket seeds were often only separated by three games or fewer.

After the opening round, there have already been some surprises, such as Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets being swept by the Boston Celtics, with Durant only shooting 38.6% overall from the floor and 33.3% on three-pointers. This is a major downgrade from his performance in the playoffs last year. Shawn Powell from NBA.com stated, “It was stunning to behold, and this is no disrespect to the Celtics’ defense, but Boston certainly didn’t show Durant something he never saw before. And so, since trading Steph Curry for Kyrie — has anyone heard a satisfactory reason why he did so? — Durant is ringless.”

The Dallas Mavericks began the playoffs with an injured Luka Doncic, but since his return after a three-game hiatus, he is averaging almost 30 points. Jalen Brunson stepped up in his absence and will likely be signed following the postseason as he has proved his worth as a free agent. The Mavs and their series against the favorite Phoenix Suns will continue to heat up as a winner is decided by the weekend. 

Many analysts have praised the confidence that the younger generations of NBA players have shown in some of their first playoff experiences. Powell stated, “There’s an understandable learning curve and amount of jitters that come with making your playoff debut, but you couldn’t tell that this year. A handful of young players, barely out of their teens, seemed right at home, in fact, in the heat of the postseason. In other words: There was no need for them to wear sunglasses because the lights were too bright.” He went on to specifically highlight Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies and Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves and how they’ve handled the spotlight. 

Despite a Lebron-less playoff, there are still some heavyweight MVPs that have proven that the path to the championship is far from easy. Steph Curry and Golden State, Joel Embiid and the 76ers, and Chris Paul and the Suns are all coming off MVP caliber seasons, only adding to the parity of this year’s playoffs.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jayson Tatum are currently going head to head in the conference semi-final round. Both are regarded highly for their playmaking abilities but Giannis is the defending champion and MVP. However, this has not distracted young star Tatum in his determination to get to the title. “[They’re the] defending champs, they’ve been there before, they’ve gotten the job done,” Tatum said of the Bucks. “Obviously, it’s going to be a great challenge. I’m just looking forward to it. It’s [going to] be fun,” Tatum said in an interview with NBA.com.

The conference semi-final round is shaping to wrap up by next week where only 4 teams will remain in the NBA 2022 playoff. 

The Indians have not won a World Series since 1948. They lost the 2016 World Series to the Cubs in game seven. They ended this season 41-7 as one of the hottest teams in baseball. The Astros have never won a World Series in their ten postseason appearances. They are led by American League MVP candidate Jose Altuve. The Dodgers have not been to the World Series in 29 years, despite having the best record in their division five times in that span. This season, they finished with the best record in baseball 104-58. The Nationals, led by Bryce Harper, are in their fourth postseason appearance in six years. They have not won a World Series since their founding as the Montreal Expos in 1969.

The Twins had the worst record in baseball in 2016, so a World Series win would be the first time a team goes from worst in the League to World Series champions in just one year. The Rockies have reached the postseason for just the fourth time in franchise history. The Yankees, led by breakout superstar rookie Aaron Judge, are looking to reclaim their title with a new generation of so-called Bronx Bombers. The Diamondbacks had a dreadful 2016 record, but they allowed 250 fewer runs in 2017 to make the postseason. The Cubs are the reigning World Series champions and are going for the first back-to-back championship since the 1998-2000 Yankees. Entering the postseason, the favorites to win the World Series the Dodgers, Indians or Astros.

In the one game wildcard playoff game to advance to the division series, the Diamondbacks won 11-8. The Yankees beat the Twins 8-4 in the American League wildcard game.

The two National League division series were between the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers and the Cubs and the Nationals. The Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks in three games and the Cubs won their series three games to two games. The two American League division series were between the Indians and the Yankees and the Astros and the Red Sox. The Yankees won their division series three games to two games. The Astros beat the Red Sox in three games.

In the next round, the Championship Series, the Astros took on the Yankees and the Cubs took on the Dodgers. The Championship Series is a best of seven matchup, with two more possible games than the division series. As of this writing, the Yankees are leading the American League Championship Series 3-2. The Dodgers are leading the Cubs in the National League Championship Series 3-1. The two teams that win the Championship Series will advance to a seven-game World Series matchup.

Photo courtesy of the Chicago Tribune.

The game, although not great in terms of technical prowess, showed great spirit by both teams. Initially the Timbers were up 1-0 after the 57th minute. Then Kevin Ellis pulled a goal back for Sporting in the 87th minute, leading to extra time.

Extra time led to even more excitement with Kristian Nemeth scoring a goal for Sporting in the 96th minute. It looked like Sporting had found their way to a comeback despite losing their starting goalkeeper, Tim Melia, to injury before extra time began. However, it was not meant to be. Just two minutes before the end of extra time the Timbers scored, which led to the game being decided on a penalty kick shootout.

Things then became even more interesting with all 11 players on the field at the end of extra time taking penalty kicks. Sporting KC hit the post twice, and one of those shots managed to hit both posts and still not fall into the back of the net. The Timbers ultimately won on a penalty kick and a save from their goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey.

While Sporting KC did not end up winning the game and continuing in the competition, they did have the chance to be part of one of the most back and forth games in MLS playoff history. Both Sporting KC and the Portland Timbers fans can agree that the game is an instant classic. While many Sporting fans are upset that they did not win, they can at least take solace in the fact that enriching the history of the league is not altogether a loss.