This article’s coming out a bit late but we made it! After 21 weeks of action, the 2025-2026 College Football season has come to an end. Let’s go over the 12th CFP National Championship game and how wrong my preseason predictions were.

National Championship: Miami vs Indiana 

Let’s get right into it. After a defensive back and forth, including Mendoza getting popped by Jakobe Thomas, Indiana got on the board with a field goal. The Hoosiers kept their foot on the gas as always, with a short touchdown by Riley Nowakowski to extend the lead to 10-0. A National Championship doink prevented the Hurricanes from scoring and it was 10-0 Hoosiers at the half. But Miami wasn’t done yet. Just two plays into their first drive of the second half, Mark Fletcher Jr took the ball 57 yards to put Miami right back in it. After two failed drives for both teams, Miami’s punt was blocked and returned by Isaiah Jones, putting Indiana up 10 in style. But wait! Unlike IU’s previous opponents, Miami wouldn’t lay down and die. Carson Beck led the Canes on a 10 play touchdown drive to cut the lead to 3. As the fourth quarter marched forward, Indiana was driving down the field. On 4th and 5, Curt Cignetti had a decision to make. Kick the field goal and go up 6, or go for it. Obviously, Cignetti went for it. Charlie Becker made sure the risk paid off. If that wasn’t stressful enough for the Hoosier faithful, it happened again. 4th and 4, on the 12 yard line, Cignetti makes the same decision, and the 2025 Heisman Trophy award winner Fernando Mendoza fights his way for the first, then dives into the endzone for the game winning touchdown. The header of this article for a reason. However, Miami STILL didn’t quit. Malachi Toney answered with a touchdown, extending the legend of what’s become one of the best freshman seasons in recent memory. The lead is cut to 3 yet again, and what does Indiana do? Drive down the field yet again and kick a field goal to bring the lead up to 6. Do you know what this sequence reminds me of? Super Bowl 52. Ertz’s diving touchdown and Mendoza’s diving touchdown. Jake Elliott’s lead extending field goal and Nicolas Radicic’s lead extending field goal. Interesting, but Miami still had a chance. Carson Beck proved us wrong last week, so what does he have in him now? Absolutely nothing, except a game ending interception thrown directly to Jamari Sharpe. The ending is a little strange due to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, so instead of two kneels, Mendoza just dives forward. Nevertheless, the game is over, and the game is over. What a moment. I’ve gone over Indiana’s woes plenty of times this playoff. The fact that they’re the losing-est school in the history of FBS football. The empty stadiums. The disastrous 2021-2023 stretch. And after all that, Indiana fans are healed with one Curt Cignetti smile. For the first time in the history of college football, the Hoosiers are national champions. 

Heisman Trophy Winner

Prediction:Jeremiah Smith

Winner:Fernando Mendoza

I almost picked Arch Manning for this one so it could’ve been worse. Smith’s biggest problem in 2025 was how good he was in 2024. Smith recorded 1315 yards and 15 touchdowns last season, and despite his numbers being about the same (1243 yards and 12 touchdowns), lots of people seemed to see this season as a downgrade. That narrative doesn’t really make sense, as Smith’s 1243 yard total was enough for 4th in the FBS and 6th in Heisman Trophy voting, with three less games played due to Ohio State’s early playoff exit.

Bednarik Award

Prediction: Colin Simmons

Winner: Jacob Rodriguez 

Jacob Rodriguez was robbed of a Heisman finalist spot by the way. Simmons put together a pretty strong season overall, but he paled in comparison to Rodriguez, who put up one of the best seasons for a college linebacker ever.

Overrated: Alabama

That week one victory lap was unforgettable. I was so confident that this Bama team was a repeat of my A&M prediction from the College Baseball season (Stay tuned to see if I can go 2/2 on overrated College Baseball teams). Well, obviously that didn’t work out. Alabama scored 73 points on UL Monroe the next week, and kept up that momentum for most of the season. Close games with Missouri and Auburn, in addition to a loss to Oklahoma gave me glimmers of hope that I was still right but all of that went down in round one of the college football playoffs. Bama was coming off of a SEC championship game beat down from Georgia, but it was pretty clear that they were sneaking into the playoffs, so I couldn’t celebrate there. What I could celebrate was Alabama’s 17-0 deficit in the second quarter. I, along with most college football fans, assumed this game to be over. Except it wasn’t. Before the quarter was over, Alabama had tied it up. After some back and forth and not one, but TWO missed field goals in the 4th quarter from OU, the Tide were rolling on to the quarterfinals. Indiana crushed them in the Rose Bowl, but it was ultimately too late for a victory lap. Maybe next year.

Underrated: Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech was so close to being something. So close. The weakest ACC probably ever, and they still couldn’t do the bare minimum to make the conference championship. All they had to do was beat NC State or Pitt. Neither of those teams are by any means bad, but a team as good as Georgia Tech should’ve handled at least one of them! When you think about it, The Pop Tarts Bowl really sums up their entire season. The Yellow Jackets fought hard the entire game, just for the win to slip through their fingers at the very end. Haynes King’s incredible Georgia Tech career ended with a tragic game-ending interception. 

National Champion

Prediction: Texas

Winner: Indiana 

Wow, this was bad. Despite Steve Sarkisian’s insistence, this Longhorn’s team was nowhere close to being a national title contender. Want to make the playoffs? Don’t lose to Florida. It’s pretty easy, 8 other teams managed to avoid it. Fortunately for the Longhorns, all the anger that’s come out of Austin lately has been directed at Tulane and JMU, which makes no sense at all considering the fact that Texas was the third team out and wouldn’t have gotten in anyways. But sure guys, blame Tulane and JMU. Blame the format, blame Oklahoma, blame whoever you want, nothing will change the fact that this year’s Texas Longhorns were a massive disappointment.

And that’s the last College Football article of the season! Thank you for reading!