Indiana Football’s Magic Season Ends with Final Farewell: 'Greatest Team in History'

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — There were supposed to be no more of these.

No more trips down the tightly wound, crimson-colored, fan-consumed path where The Walk takes place. No more motorcycle rides onto Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium for Hoosier The Bison. No more days, together, for the greatest team Indiana, and perhaps college football, has ever seen.

But this Hoosier squad — the first to bring a national championship to Bloomington, the first since 1967 to win the Big Ten Championship, the first team since 1894 to finish 16–0 — built an identity on doing what nobody supposed it should.

Indiana honored its seniors Nov. 15 before defeating Wisconsin, 31–7, at Memorial Stadium. The Hoosiers had no intentions of playing another home game, as they planned on getting a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff, which they did. They had business to handle, opponents to prepare for, games to focus on.

Championship celebrations weren’t on their mind. Winning is the only thing that occupied their head space. Indiana’s most magical team, college football’s most magical Disney story, kept playing, kept fighting, in part because it never wanted the ride to end.

Finality hit Saturday.

On a frigid afternoon in Bloomington — so cold Indiana coach Curt Cignetti joked his mouth “stopped working” while addressing the crowd — where the feels-like temperature was zero degrees, the No. 1 Hoosiers celebrated the end the only way this team deserved: As winners, as champions, as kings of the college football castle.

Indiana entered the field just after 1 p.m. By then, fans had already belted lyrics to ABBA’s “Fernando,” joined in chorus of “Indiana, Our Indiana,” and waved their white rally towels in unison with thousands of other loyal soldiers who braved the conditions.

Led by Cignetti, the Hoosiers walked through the tunnel one final time, streaming past the Marching Hundred, past cheerleaders, over the IU trident at midfield and, for most, onto the celebratory stage. Other players and staff members sat in white folding chairs planted several yards in front of the elevated platform.

There, for the next 30 minutes, a conglomerate of Cignetti, IU President Pamela Whitten, athletic director Scott Dolson, radio voice Don Fischer and several players acknowledged the cold — but also the history, the achievement, the legacy created by the 2025 Hoosiers.

“There simply aren’t enough adjectives in the dictionary to quantify what this coach, his coaching, the support staff, the managers and the administration have done to resurrect a program that was on life support two years ago,” Fischer said. “And now, they are the national champions of all of college football.”

Highlights from Indiana’s 27–21 win over Miami in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game played on the big screens at Memorial Stadium.

Fans cheered receiver Omar Cooper Jr.’s acrobatic juke move and edge rusher Mikail Kamara’s blocked punt. They roared at quarterback Fernando Mendoza’s decisive touchdown run and cornerback Jamari Sharpe’s game-sealing interception.

They waved towels through all of it. Pride-filled chants of “Hoo, Hoo, Hoo, Hoosiers” filled the air once the video ended.

United cheers turned to mixed reviews — some applause, some boos — as Whitten took the stage. She didn’t want the microphone for long, but she didn’t need it to make her point. She thanked Cignetti, the board of trustees, the players and the alumni. She also forecasted more celebrations ahead.

“The greatest university in the country is now home to the greatest football team in the United States of America,” Whitten said. “I want to give a special shoutout to all of those who are enrolled as students right now. You’re the center of our universe. We love you guys.

“And I am so thrilled for the rest of your lives, you’ll be able to tell everyone you were a student when Indiana University won the national football championship — for the first time. This will not be the last time.”

Whitten gave way to a surprise guest appearance from musician John Mellencamp, who, with help from Cooper, receiver Elijah Sarratt and center Pat Coogan, sang Mellencamp’s hit song “Hurts So Good,” which became a popular stadium sing-along during the Hoosiers’ run to the title.

Trophy presentation ensued. National Football Foundation trustee Jason Hanold took the stage and delivered the NFF’s MacArthur Bowl, a 400-ounce silver trophy awarded annually since 1959, to the Hoosiers. Kickoff specialist Brendan Franke and defensive end Stephen Daley lifted the trophy overhead.

Etched within the MacArthur Bowl is a quote from its namesake, general Douglas MacArthur, that says there’s no substitute for victory. Indiana University will now forever be etched into it, too.

Forever immortalized.

“This is a perfect 16–0 team, and this is a shining example of that ideal,” Hanold said, to cheers from the crowd. “You’re more than among the greatest teams. You’re arguably the greatest team.”

Indiana football players carry the MacArthur Bowl on Jan. 24, 2026, during the Hoosiers' championship celebration. — Indiana kickoff specialist Brendan Franke (left), offensive tackle Zen Michalski (middle) and defensive end Stephen Daley (right) carry the MacArthur Bowl on Jan. 24, 2026, during the Hoosiers' championship celebration at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington. | Photo Courtesy of Indiana Athletics

Indiana next received the American Football Coaches Association award for the Coaches Trophy, an iconic silver football valued at $30,000. Cignetti, the back-to-back AFCA Coach of the Year, grabbed the trophy, hoisted it overhead, handed it to guard Bray Lynch and turned back to the microphone for a parting message.

“I guess we need a new trophy case,” Cignetti said.

The Hoosiers then received their second Heisman Trophy in just over 40 days. Mendoza already secured the first on Dec. 13 in New York City. He and Cignetti proudly posed with the second, awarded to represent the students, faculty, alumni and remaining fanbase, on Saturday afternoon.

It’s Indiana’s own Heisman Trophy, one that will forever rest inside the halls of Memorial Stadium.

“The Heisman Trophy is the ultimate team award,” Mendoza said. “I want to thank God, I want to thank the Heisman Trust and thank everyone at IU. God Bless.”

Dolson finally earned his turn at the microphone.

The man who, as Fischer said, turned Indiana into a “football powerhouse” by hiring Cignetti on Nov. 30, 2023, extended gratitude to Whitten, to donors, to the 2024 Hoosiers who set the foundation for championship heights, to prior Indiana teams and to the fanbase.

And, at last, to the 2025 Hoosiers, college football’s greatest story — and, in his eyes, team.

“Words can’t adequately express how much we appreciate all you’ve done,” Dolson said. “It’s not just that you’ve won, but you’ve won every game with class and humility and representing this university in the best possible way we could ever imagine.

“Look at these players today. Future generations are going to honor these players as the greatest team in the history of college football — this team right here.”

Cignetti spoke for just over one minute. He noted how Indiana’s fanbase took over Rose Bowl Stadium, turned Atlanta in Bloomington south and made Hard Rock Stadium — Miami’s home facility — majority crimson. He touted the Hoosiers’ senior leaders and the character within the locker room. He thanked Whitten and Dolson. He said Chapter 3, his third season, starts Sunday.

But in his final address to Hoosier Nation, Cignetti sent the crowd — filled halfway up the stands on both sidelines — into one roar. Together.

“One last time, on three,” Cignetti began. “One, two, three: Hoo, Hoo, Hoo, Hoosiers.”

In two years, Cignetti turned Memorial Stadium from sparsely populated to sold out. He turned Indiana football from perennial bottom-feeders to national champions. He awoke, what Dolson said after his hiring, a sleeping giant.

Getting fans to follow his command may have been his easiest job.

Players took turns at the microphone, most thanking the fans who’d made their special ride ever more memorable. Eventually, by the end, senior linebacker Aiden Fisher did his best Mellencamp impression.

Fisher led his teammates, coaches and fans through “Indiana, Our Indiana,” one final time. Confetti fell one final time. “All I Do Is Win” by DJ Khaled played over the Memorial Stadium speakers one final time.

At last, Indiana’s players walked back to the locker room one final time. There was no sunset, only snow-filled clouds to ride into.

The season that never wanted to end met its final event Saturday. But these Hoosiers won’t soon — or ever — be forgotten. Not in Bloomington. Not on the trophies in which their name is etched. Not in college football history.

The 2025 Indiana Hoosiers, the team that did the unthinkable, forever immortalized.