Indiana Wins First National Football Title, Goes 16-0

A football program on life support two years ago just became national champions.

Indiana University's football team wrapped up the most remarkable turnaround in college sports Saturday, celebrating their first national championship in front of thousands of frozen but jubilant fans at Memorial Stadium. The temperature felt like zero degrees, but nobody seemed to care.

The Hoosiers finished 16-0, the first team in school history to complete a perfect season since 1894. They also captured their first Big Ten Championship since 1967, shattering decades of disappointment with one magical year.

Coach Curt Cignetti joked the cold made his mouth "stop working" as he addressed the crowd. The fans had been belting ABBA songs and waving white rally towels long before the team emerged from the tunnel just after 1 p.m.

The celebration featured highlights from Indiana's 27-21 win over Miami in the national championship game. Fans roared watching quarterback Fernando Mendoza's decisive touchdown run and cornerback Jamari Sharpe's game-sealing interception on the big screens.

Rock legend John Mellencamp made a surprise appearance, performing his hit "Hurts So Good" alongside players Omar Cooper, Elijah Sarratt, and Pat Coogan. The song became an unofficial anthem during the Hoosiers' championship run.

The team received three major trophies: the 400-ounce silver MacArthur Bowl from the National Football Foundation, the $30,000 Coaches Trophy, and a second Heisman Trophy to represent the entire Indiana community. Mendoza had already won the actual Heisman in December, becoming the school's first winner.

The Ripple Effect

Radio announcer Don Fischer captured what this means for Bloomington: "There simply aren't enough adjectives in the dictionary" to describe how a program on life support became national champions in just two years.

University President Pamela Whitten told current students they'll spend the rest of their lives telling people they were there when Indiana won its first national championship. Then she added something even better: "This will not be the last time."

For a program that spent over a century waiting, that promise feels like the sweetest part of victory.