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Indiana Fans Appeared to Greatly Outnumber Miami Fans at National Championship in Miami

Somehow, the Hurricanes were playing a road game in Miami.
Tyler Lauletta|
Indiana players run out onto the field at the national championship, enjoying a solid fan advantage in Hard Rock Stadium according to those in Miami.
Indiana players run out onto the field at the national championship, enjoying a solid fan advantage in Hard Rock Stadium according to those in Miami. | Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated

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Indiana HoosiersMiami (FL) Hurricanes

Indiana and Miami kicked off the College Football Playoff national championship on Monday night from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

Logic would dictate, with the game being played in Miami, the Hurricanes would sport quite an advantage when it came to the crowd. Whereas Miami fans needed to only buy a ticket, an uber ride, and maybe a babysitter, Indiana fans would need flights, hotels and maybe time off of work to make the trek to the title game.

But as they have the entire postseason, Indiana fans showed up in impressive force. By many estimates from media inside the stadium, Hoosiers fans outnumbered Hurricanes fans by a pretty solid amount.

While it was a much easier trip for Miami fans, it’s not a total shock that Indiana fans were able to take over the stadium.

The Hurricanes have had plenty of football success in the storied history of the program, and thus have fans that have previously trekked all across the country to watch them play. For the Hoosiers, the past two years under Curt Cignetti have been a success beyond the wildest dreams of the alumni. They’ve been showing up through the entire playoffs, and weren’t going to let one more flight and hotel on the credit card stop them from seeing their team through to a shot at the title.

The Hoosiers fans might have outnumbered the Miami fans, but through the opening drives of the game, both groups made themselves felt, with huge cheers coming in support of both teams.

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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.

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