It’s already dubbed “The Battle For Indiana.” On December 20th, the 10th ranked Indiana Hoosiers will travel just 150 miles to do battle with the 7th ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Under the watchful eye of Touchdown Jesus, these two one-loss Indiana football teams will fight for a spot in the Sugar Bowl, a date with the Georgia Bulldogs, and a lone claim to the title of best team in Indiana. A basketball state. A car racing state. And now, the only state with two top ten college football teams. In 49 states, it’s just football…This is Indiana.
College football looks nothing like it did even 5 years ago. The restructuring of the transfer portal, the birth of NIL-based recruitment, conference realignment and now the 12-team expansion playoff system has college football in a never-before-seen state. For national football observers, it looks like the days of Alabama, Texas and California’s monopolization of the game have come to an end. The game now runs through the heart of the midwest and the offices of Indiana coach Curt Cignetti and Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman.
Indiana University, as far as the public is concerned, holds just one major record in college football. That would be their staggering 713 NCAA Division One football losses, the most of any team in the nation. IU has spent well over a hundred years building up a legacy as the football world’s punching bag until basketball season started. Long time IU football fans wince like war veterans at the mention of the IU football teams of old. One of these long suffering Hoosiers is Noblesville history teacher Eric Gunderson who graduated from the university in 1992.
“IU was terrible when I was growing up, and then they had a nice little stretch when Coach Mallory was there in the late 80s. They had a run of bowl games, and since then… it’s been terrible,” Gunderson said.
IU had suffered decades of consistently embarrassing teams, until late last November when Curt Cignetti arrived on campus and tore down the losing reputation IU had spent so long building up. Two games. After a hundred year legacy of terrible football, Cignetti took only two games to break the school’s record for points scored in a single game, in 1901. That 77-3 win in early September was not all Cignetti’s Hoosiers would accomplish in their first year. It was simply their way of saying they’d arrived. Over the next few months, the 2024-25 Indiana Hoosiers would break countless school records en route to a record setting 11-1 season. The winningest season in school history saw a 66 to 0 shutout against their in-state rivals Purdue bringing the Oaken Bucket back to Bloomington and the first playoff berth in school history.
“I couldn’t possibly be more thrilled at where IU is. This has been so much fun. I never dreamed I would see something like this,” Gunderson said, “so I’m not gonna sit here and say I’m satisfied with just being in the playoffs. But holy crap, this is fun, and I’m ready to go play and see how they do, and I’ll enjoy the game and root like hell for a win if there’s another week, then bring on whoever it is that we would play in round two. If they lose to the Irish, does that take any shine off the season? No.”
Notre Dame football could not possibly be any more different from IU’s. Notre Dame has a staggering 954 victories and has won 13 National Championships. Notre Dame’s issues, however, lie in their recent shortcomings. As a brand synonymous with college football, greatness is expected for the Fighting Irish. However, it has been 36 years since they last sat atop the mountain of college football, and their fans have grown restless. Similar to IU, the Irish have a new face leading the way in third year head coach Marcus Freeman. Freeman is known for confusing and aggressive defensive fronts that cause headaches in other teams’ young quarterbacks. Dieheart Notre Dame football fan, junior Noah Melton, loves this about Freeman-led teams.
“His defense is so hard on quarterbacks, especially at the college level, because let’s be honest, they are not as polished as NFL talent. But Freeman also has a track record of developing really great safety’s and using them in so many ways,” Melton said.
Notre Dame goes into their first playoff match up just a seven-and-a-half point favorite over the Hoosiers, the smallest margin of any of the first round playoff games. While many say that IU has accomplished its wildest dreams this season, Notre Dame is just starting in terms of beating expectations this year. Melton is well aware of this reality for Notre Dame.
“It’s Championship or bust for Freeman this year. He’s gotta prove he’s not just another Brian Kelly. This is Notre Dame, not IU. It’s not enough just to make the playoffs,” Melton said.
In a season where everything in the sports world seems to be changing, one thing that will always remain in college football: from the Mountain West to the Atlantic Coast, the country is united in their love for the game. For Gunderson, this season for the Hoosiers reminds him of his friend who loved IU football, late teacher at NHS Kevin Cole. “He and I used to text each other back and forth about missed tackles on missed tackles under previous IU coaches. He’s not with us anymore, but we would have had a lot of fun texting this year, like, look how well they tackle, and look at how well they do this,” Gunderson said, “They’re just so awesome.”
