Indiana Proves the Big Ten’s Football Dominance Is More About Depth Than Big Brands

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — In the waning hours of Monday and not long after the final few blasts of red and white confetti fell at the 2026 College Football Playoff national championship game, it should be said that the best moves that transpired on the torn-up Hard Rock Stadium grass were not by speedy Indiana tailback Kaelon Black or elusive wideout Charlie Becker.

They were not courtesy of Hoosiers defensive back D’Angelo Ponds on any of his three incredible pass breakups or by Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza on his remarkable fourth-down scramble right into the history books of a 27–21 classic over Miami that helped cement the Hoosiers’ perfect 16–0 record.

No, the best moves of a long night were those of Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti as he waved, ran and sometimes spun to navigate through the throngs of Indiana coaches, players and administrators who descended upon the stage near the end zone to get one more glimpse of that golden trophy.

“What Indiana has done in two years, I’ve never seen anything like it in all the years I’ve worked in sports. I’m just blown away,” Petitti said. “You know what it means for Indiana and their fans. You’ve seen the transformation around this [program]. Look at a turnout like what happened at the Rose Bowl and look at what we saw in Atlanta and what we saw tonight. It’s just remarkable.

“Obviously means so much for Indiana, but it means a lot for the entire league.”

Petitti has become adept at such postgame navigation in his three-plus seasons in charge.

When Michigan won it all in Houston in 2024, he stood by silently as Jim Harbaugh lifted the trophy before making a quick beeline for an awaiting SUV in an exit that could best be described as hasty. Last season, amid Ohio State’s run to a trophy in Atlanta, he jumped up and down on the stage of the Buckeyes’ semifinal victory in the Cotton Bowl and handed out hugs the next week to many of the conference’s staffers when Ryan Day’s team finally finished the job over Notre Dame.

This season, as the Big Ten has reigned supreme atop college football for a third consecutive season—the first time the conference has done so since 1940 to ’42—Petitti was not much different from the Indiana faithful which had flocked to South Florida in droves like they had for the last two rounds. He was jubilant and smiling. He had an extra bounce in his step as he made his way across the field. He was even feeling himself so much that he notably stopped and talked to the media after months of terse statements and long silences amid CFP expansion discussions that were held up by his own actions.

It seems third time’s the charm though, because now Petitti can strut around like a king. The Big Ten no longer stands for a particular brand of football. Now it’s just associated with being the best.

“It’s a commitment. It’s great players, it’s great coaches, it’s people that deeply care, it’s administrators that really wanted it to get to this level,” he said with a smile. “I feel like we’re just getting started.”

Indiana wide receiver Elijah Sarratt stiff-arms a Miami defender during the College Football Playoff national championship. — Indiana wide receiver Elijah Sarratt stiff-arms a Miami defender during the College Football Playoff national championship game. | Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

All too often Petitti has been a factory full of questionable ideas, ones which have swirled in a vacuum which have largely been self-created and often run counter to the enterprise the former MLB executive is part of.

He has masterminded expanding this postseason event to 24 teams and maintained such a hard line on it that he is the lone roadblock to a slight expansion to 16 teams. He championed NCAA tournament expansion and was public enemy No. 1 in a few states just months ago amid plans to sell off portions of the conference’s assets to a private investment arm.

For some he’s a boogeyman. Now he’s just the man after a third different school from the league’s traditional Midwestern footprint saw off all others.

“I think we sent a message, first of all, to society that if you keep your nose to the grindstone and work hard and you’ve got the right people, anything’s possible. In our particular situation in the athletic world, college football has changed quite a bit. The balance of power, also,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said. “Most people would tell you, that are in the know, it’s probably one of the greatest stories of all time.”

There’s little argument on such a claim even if you weren’t wearing crimson-colored glasses on Monday as the Hoosiers gutted out another win over a program which had 10 times the history of success and was playing on its home field. Indiana became the second team in history since Yale in 1894 to go 16–0 and did so 50 years after its men’s basketball team assembled the last perfect season in the other marquee revenue sport.

Not bad for the perennial homecoming opponent in Big Ten territory, a team which began the season with more losses than any other team in the country was left as the last one standing and the most unlikeliest of trophies headed home to Bloomington, Ind., of all places.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza throws a pass against Miami during the CFP title game. | Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated

“It’s a dream of a dream,” says Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks, an Indiana graduate who was scooping up confetti afterward. “Three in a row for the conference, right? It just goes to show you that you can be good at a lot of different things. I think [Petitti’s] leadership, along with all the presidents and ADs, it’s something that they should be really proud of.”

What has to make the Big Ten most proud is that Indiana has shown the way for the rest of the league that they too can make such a CFP run, not just the bluebloods like Michigan and Ohio State that have long had to carry the banner into national battle. The basketball school not only fully transformed into a football one the past two years, but it did so without a single five-star recruit on the roster and managed to fight off numerous others to make its beer-drinking head coach one of the highest paid in the game with good reason.

If it can be done at Indiana, it truly can be done anywhere in the only conference that spans coast to coast thanks to some of that free-flowing television money and a big bet on the future.

“I’ve played pretty much every single level of football, FCS, G5, now here in the Big Ten,” said defensive lineman Mikail Kamara, the defensive player of the game after he blocked a punt that was recovered for a touchdown to go along with four tackles. “I didn’t think it was possible, I can’t lie. But to be here today, it’s surreal.”

“There’s always gonna be doubters, you know? There’s no stopping that,” says left tackle Carter Smith. “People are going to talk about the path to the championship. People are going to talk about the conference you’re playing in. But at the end of the day, the result is the result. And here we are with the trophy.”

Back-to-back-to-back for Smith and his Big Ten brethren, which is bound to turn the hand-wringing down South into even more of an existential crisis.

“I think we’re headed for really great things,” said Petitti, eventually extricating himself from a few reporters to head back to South Beach for a more intimate celebration. “These last three [championships] have been incredible. I just expect even more.”

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