The arch-rival Miami Hurricanes play the Indiana Hoosiers tonight in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game at 7:30 PM EST on ESPN. I never thought that I would see the Hurricanes relevant again in my lifetime.
When they moved to the ACC back in 2004, they struggled to maintain consistency within their program (still cannot win a conference championship). However, head football coach Mario Cristobal has found an identity for his team: Be aggressive and physical.
Before I move on to my next point, I am fully aware that Florida State football finished 5-7 in 2025 and 2-10 in 2024, and has been inconsistent over the past decade. However, the Seminole faithful can now watch their last national championship footage on something other than VHS tapes.
Miami Hurricanes could be in for a rude awakening against the Indiana Hoosiers
There are many storylines for Monday night's tilt between the Hurricanes and Hoosiers. However, the one that I want to focus on is Miami's history of choking down the stretch. It doesn't help when they are led by Mario Cristobal, who tends not be the best game manager.
When you look at closing games in a season, Miami lost to SMU this year to knock them out of ACC Championship consideration. Then the Hurricanes lost to Georgia Tech and Syracuse in 2024. Even in 2023, they lost a stretch of three games to spiral out of control.
When people think of Indiana as a team, they find of the Hoosiers program of old that historically lost many games. However, head football coach Curt Cignetti has posted a dominant brand of football in 2025. Even the Alabama Crimson Tide thought that it could overwhelm them, but they were only able to muster 193 total yards.
Indiana is on a dominant run where it obliterated opponents Alabama and Oregon. Meanwhile, Miami had to grind it out against teams like Ohio State and Ole Miss. While that isn't always a great indicator, the Hurricanes typically allow opposing teams to stay in games.
If that becomes the case tonight, then Indiana should have no issues, and Florida State football fans should be celebrating the fact that Miami did not win a national championship.