Curt Cignetti, Mario Cristobal both gave same blunt answer before Indiana-Miami

Both coaches played it close to the best (if more than a little incomplete) on one key question.

Coaches Mario Cristobal (left) of Miami and Curt Cignetti (right) of Indiana gave similar deadpan answers to one question in a joint press conference. Both left plenty unsaid. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Holy cliches, Batman. On the eve of the College Football Playoff national title game, both head coaches, Miami's Mario Cristobal and Indiana's Curt Cignetti gave verbatim identical answers to a significant question. The only problem is that their flip response leaves plenty unsaid.

Before the season, Miami was a +3000 pick to win the CFP title. That's positively good odds compared to Indiana, which paid out at +10000 in August despite reaching the College Football Playoff the previous season. Neither coach wanted to acknowledge the significance of the unlikely journey.

Both coaches, when asked about the historical significance of winning the national title said only, "It would mean we're the national champion." (Cignetti actually said "champions", but close enough.) Sure, coaches don't like to pontificate about hypothetical wins, but in ducking the question, both coaches are failing to acknowledge an amazing situation.

Indiana's Curt Cignetti & Miami's Mario Cristobal asked about the historical significance of their school winning the national championship.
Cignetti: "It would mean we're the national champion"
Cristobal: "It would mean we're the national champions"

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 18, 2026

Significance for Indiana

For Indiana, a national title would mean, frankly, that anybody can do this. Long the laughing stock of the Big Ten, Indiana opened the season as college football's most losing program in history. While that dishonor has now been passed to another program, Indiana had never won 10 games until last season, and the last conference title for the Hoosiers had been in 1967.

Adding Curt Cignetti to a morbid program produced massive results in year one and something near a college football earthquake in year two. In 2024, Cignetti's high-ocatane offense beat up on some bad teams, but in the Big Ten title game and the Playoff, Indiana was outmatched.

A season later, that wasn't the case. The Hoosier defense has been nearly as dominant as the offense. Patience for a long build? Hasn't been necessary in Bloomington and that fact will reverberate through college football.

Significance for Miami

On the other hand, a Miami win is also a game changer. For an ACC that looked as if it might miss out on the CFP entirely, it's a massive moment of redemption. It also would signal the return of Miami to the massive power that it was for a two-decade run 1983 to 2003.

After that 20-year period, the Hurricanes have often seemed to be stumbling in a college football wasteland. But under Mario Cristobal, Miami has tightened up its program, bought in significant on the NIL front, and assembled a team stout enough to best an impressive slate of contenders (Ohio State and Ole Miss).

If Miami wins, arguments of SEC and Big Ten superiority will take a significant hit. The ability of once-proud programs to bounce back will be supported (take note, Nebraska, USC, etc.), And the significance of the transfer portal to provide top-notch talent will be proven again.

Obviously, both coaches have the freedom to engage in a little coach-speak. But in this case, it risks hiding important narratives that will be augmented by someone on Monday night.