As we wrap up this season and reflect on the journey we have been on with our teams and schools, take a moment. Celebrate yourself for participating in group sports solidarity, camaraderie, and traditions almost on the level of professional soccer. All things considered it has been a great season of football to watch, and we should celebrate the student athletes that make our Saturdays whole in the fall.

One thing I need to address since I’ve been hearing about it for 23 years: Miami fans don’t get to bitch about the 2002 national championship pass interference call ever again. They got such a gift of a no call against Ole Miss, 24 got away with pulling down the receiver on that last play. It’s not my fight to have, and I respect the result, but Ohio State fans should keep this reference in their back pocket for late night bickering contests.

Allow me to focus on the topic at hand, #1 Indiana (-8.5) vs #10 Miami in the title game . It’s worth pointing out that these are two of the three oldest rosters in college football in terms of years of experience, based on my Chat GPT analytics. This would help to explain why Indiana is the only team in the expanded playoff era to win a game after a bye. The depth of experience on their offensive line in particular has been the engine of the Mendoza attack.

Both of these teams have earned their spot here with impressive playoff runs, and either one would be a fitting champion for the second season of the new playoff system. That being said, barring injury, I don’t see any other outcome than Indiana winning this game. As a former offensive lineman at a very amateur level, I look forward to watching part of the first half to see who wins the battle at the line of scrimmage.

That will be what determines the outcome, both in terms of the cover, and the straight up winner. I think Mendoza will be protected enough to be efficient on 3rd downs and they have been able to get short yards rushing the ball at will. I hesitate to be too positive about anything related to Indiana because of my experiences on the roadways there, but I digress. Mike Pence survived an attempted hanging on January 6th, 2021 with a new lease on life and dreams of seeing a day like this for his state. He’s still a bag of liquid garbage with no redeeming value, but for now, Who! Who! Who! Hoosiers!

Summary:

#1 Indiana covers -8.5

Record: 37-19-2