The College Football Playoff National Championship is almost here, featuring No. 10 Miami squaring off against No. 1 Indiana on January 19 at Hard Rock Stadium, South Florida, aiming for college football’s supreme accolade. Miami enters the postseason as a double-digit seed and is set to become the first team in the CFP history to ‘host’ the national championship.

Indiana reached the title game after a significant win against Oregon in the Peach Bowl semifinal, marking a historic moment for the Hoosiers, who will make their first-ever appearance in the national title game. Previously, they were regarded as one of the less successful programs in FBS until Coach Curt Cignetti transformed the team and led them to back-to-back CFP appearances.

This championship clash marks only the third meeting between the two teams, the last of which occurred in the 1960s, with Indiana taking a 28-14 win in 1964 and Miami evening the score with a 14-7 victory in 1966, both held in Miami.

Furthermore, Indiana’s road to the CFP culminated in a 38-3 win over Alabama in the quarterfinals, ending a postseason drought that lasted since 1991.

On the other hand, Miami seeks its first national title since 2001, rebounding from a challenging 5-7 season under Mario Cristobal in 2022 to a record of 13 wins in the ongoing season, reaching the national championship game for the first time since 2002.

With the new expanded playoff format, Miami’s record-setting 13 wins represent the most in the program’s history, surpassing their previous maximum of 12 wins achieved four times, including their championship season in 2001.