SEC mouthpiece Paul Finebaum finally admitted his epic failure on underestimating Indiana, conceding the Hoosiers' stunning championship and crowning the Big Ten the nation's dominant conference after three straight national titles by Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana.
MIAMI, Fla. — The 2025 college football season has come to an end, and for the third straight year, a Big Ten team has won the national championship. This year, it was the surprising Indiana Hoosiers who went 16-0 to claim the crown. Michigan won in 2023, and Ohio State in 2024.
And for the third straight year, there wasn't even an SEC team in the title game. Washington, then of the Pac-12 played Michigan in 2023, Notre Dame, who's an independent unless when the ACC serves them better, lost to Ohio State in 2024 and Miami of the ACC lost to Indiana.
It's taken the wind out of the sails of the SEC Country apoligists. The Big Ten, with three straight titles, has bragging rights now as the best conference in the country.
They've earned that, with three straight titles. It's hard to admit, even for the SEC's biggest mouthpiece, Senator Paul Finebaum. Even the mouth of the South finally caves, and gave that league up north its due.
“There can be debate on whether Indiana had the best season in college football history, but there can be no debate: It is the greatest story in the history of the game," Senator Finebaum said. "And what made it even more amazing is how people misunderstood what Curt Cignetti was doing in Bloomington.
"Let me assure you, nobody was more incorrect in understanding that process than me. Almost everything I said throughout the season about him and about Indiana was wrong. And it was an epic failure on my part. There was no question Indiana was the best team, and yes, the Big Ten is the best conference in the country. We congratulate Coach Cignetti, Indiana and the Big Ten for an extraordinary run.”
Finebaum railed on Indiana throughout the 2024 season, giving them zero credit when they started 10-0 for the first time in school history. He said ''I told you so'' when the Hoosiers lost to No. 1 Ohio State in Columbus in late November and then doubled down when the Hoosiers lost at Notre Dame in the first round of the College Football Playoff, shouting that Indiana didn't belong in the playoffs in the first place.
This in the midseason this year, after Penn State fired James Franklin and Pennsylvania native Cignetti was an obvious target to replace him at the blueblood school, I was proactive and signed Cignetta to a new eight-year, $93 million deal.
Finebaum called Indiana folks idiots for agreeing to such a deal. He said it was far too early to determine if Cignetti was a good coach at the Power 4 and the Hoosiers were set up to fail.
He could not have been more wrong, of course. This year, the Hoosiers had a perfect 12-0 regular season for the first time in the history of the 138-year-old football program. They won their first-ever Big Ten Championship Game, beating then No. 1 Ohio State and then blew through the playoffs, beating No. 9 Alabama, No. 5 Oregon and No. 10 Miami by a combined score of 121-46. In three games, they were so dominant that they never trailed — not for even one second
There were other guys I saw in Miami, guys I really respect like Josh Pate and Danny Kanell, who were picking Miami. Kanell, my Florida State buddy for years, gave me a ''you were right'' on the field during the postgame celebration and said ''this was the greatest thing ever for all you Indiana people. Enjoy ever minute of it.
Pate was happy to line up to eat crow on his college football show, which is terrific, by the way. This year he's picked against Indiana four times — including Monday night — and was wrong all four times.
"Indiana has never had it so good, and I've never had it so bad,'' Pate said in opening his show with a clown's nose on. "I picked against them four times. I went 0-4. They went 4-0 in those games, en route to going 16-0. That makes them national champions and it makes me a broken, confused man with nothing to console him but a cold microphone.
"Congratulations to Curt Cignetti, congratulations to Indiana and that entire staff. I have been dumped on as painfully and repeatedly as anyone since sixth grade gym class. I hate that this is happening to me, but I will learn from it and I am left here to pick up the piece.''
If you weren't living it every day, it was really hard to believe that Indiana was national championship material. They were 100-to-1 longshots to win the nationa title in the preseason and their over/under win total was just 8.5.
But they clobbered then No. 9 Illinois 63-10 at home in December then won road games at Iowa, Oregon and Penn State, where those teams rarely lose. They were touchdown underdogs to Ohio State and won anyway. They crushed Alabama and Oregon and made the big place vs. Miami when they needed to.
Pate was 0-4 in his picks, and I was — get this: A perfect 4-0 in picking Indiana. I don't gamble, so the point spreads don't matter to me. It's the winners and losers that matter to me.
Ohio State prediction: Indiana hadn't beaten Ohio State since 1988 and had lost 30 games since then to the Buckeyes. I just felt it was time for the Hoosiers to do it, even though Ohio State was No. 1. It was the first time the Big Ten hosted a No. 1 vs. No. 2 championship game and the Hoosiers pulled it out 13-10 as a 6.5-point underdog. It was a great celebration for Hoosier Nation in Indianapolis.
Alabama prediction: Indiana crushed Alabama 38-3 and completely embarrassed the blueblood Crimson Tide. It was a long day for former Hoosiers coaches Kalen DeBoer, Kane Wommack and Nick Sheridan. I picked Indiana 27-13 and they were even more impressive than I thought they'd be. They easily covered that 7-point spread.
Oregon prediction: Indiana had beaten Oregon 30-20 earlier in the year in Eugene, and a lot of people didn't think they could beat them twice in the same season. But they did, cruising to a 56-22 win that wasn't even that close. D'Angelo Ponds had a pick-six on the first play of the game and the Hoosiers had 35 points by halftime. In my video prediction, I predicted 27-20 but thought it could a two-touchdown win. I was right again.
Miami prediction: I went with 31-13 Indiana to close it out, figuring quarterback Fernando Mendoza would dazzle — he did — and that Indiana was a team of destiny. The Hurricanes played them tough, but Indiana still led the entire game.
Indiana was the losingest program in college football before Cignetti arrived from James Madison. He's gone 27-2 since he arrived, and got the Hoosiers, a basketball school, their football national title. They were the first school to earn their first national title since Florida in 1996.
It was nice to see Senator Finebaum apologize. Pate, too.
The Hoosiers got the jo done. And they were damn impressive in doing it.