Though it has been a couple of weeks since the event happened, it’s still processing in some minds of people. Yes, it actually happened. And yes, their quarterback exclusively uses LinkedIn as his only social media. The Indiana Hoosiers, the second losing-est college football program in history and first to ever lose 700 games, won the national championship. This was done in not a dominant but a spectacular fashion, specifically in the other teams home stadium. Up until the past couple of years of college football with the loosening (or lack of any sort) of rules, this could not have been thought of as possible. Well, not possible apart from doing it in a video game. But it somehow was possible, and it actually happened.
For context, to you non-sports lovers out there, know that Indiana has basically never been good at football. Prior to their past two seasons, they had never won double digit games in a season (10+ games), spanning all the way back to … 1887. In the three years before their current coach came, they managed to only win three games in their conference, the (primarily) Midwestern based Big Ten. Then, their previously small school coach decided enough was enough and supercharged them to an 11 win season the year before this. Even so, that wasn’t enough, so he brought a transfer from Cal who graduated from a rigorous business school in three years to lead the offense among other important transfers and returners to the roster. And like the end of a Disney movie, they ended up winning the national title.
They did not just limp to this title, but decimated opponents. In the playoffs alone, they outscored their opponents (their amount of points versus the opponents) 96-46. In their season overall, they outscored their 16 different opponents 666-187! But that’s not all. They did not lose a single game this season, being the third team to go 16-0 in college football history, compared to the likes of the 2019 North Dakota State team and the 1894 Yale team. Those teams were very good and expected to win, much unlike Indiana. Even so, they managed to knock off the national champions of the year before, Ohio State, to win their first conference solely by them since 1945. Safe to say, this Indiana team was unbelievable, at least a top five in college football history. As crazy as this championship was, it brings hope to many new fan bases of various teams across the country, who now can ask, “if Indiana can do it, why can’t we?”