2025-2026 College Football Championship Odds
The 2025-2026 College Football Playoff Championship Game will take place on Monday, January 19, 2026 on ESPN with the Miami Hurricanes facing the Indiana Hoosiers. The Hoosiers are listed as an 8.5-point favorite with a total of 49. The Hoosiers have been one of the most dominant teams in NCAA football history this season, as they come into the game unbeaten at 15-0 and they have been unstoppable in the College Football Playoff, winning all three games easily. On the other side, the Miami Hurricanes were fortunate just to get into the College Football Playoff, but they slipped past Texas A&M, upset Ohio State and then just got past Mississippi to reach the title game.
The Indiana Hoosiers boast an offense that averaged over 41 points in the regular season and a dominating defense that gave up just over 10 points per game. They also have the Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Fernando Mendoza. There is a lot to like about the Hoosiers, but Indiana will have to face Miami with the Hurricanes having a home field advantage in the championship, although it is technically a neutral site game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
College Football Same Game Parlay Lines
College Football Playoff National Championship Game (Jan. 19)
Monday, January 19
Miami Hurricanes vs. Indiana Hoosiers - Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. | 7:30 PM | ESPN, WatchESPN (Indiana -8.5, 49)
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The current favorite to win the 2025-2026 college football national championship is the Indiana Hoosiers. They are listed as an 8.5-point favorite against the Miami Hurricanes.
Indiana Hoosiers
Now sitting at 15-0 with two double-digit wins in the College Football Playoff, the 2025 Indiana Hoosiers are assembling a resume that belongs in any conversation about the most dominant teams of the modern era. A national championship remains the final piece needed to join the sport’s iconic BCS and CFP champions, but even before that last step, Indiana’s season already stands as one of the most remarkable stories in contemporary sports.
Curt Cignetti has been the architect of the turnaround. He is 26-2 since taking over a program that had not won an outright Big Ten title since 1945 and had reached only six bowl games from 1994 through 2023. In just two seasons, he has completely redefined what Indiana football can be. One of the nation’s largest alumni bases has rallied behind the program, and the Crimson-heavy crowd in Atlanta for the Oregon win was another reminder of how dramatically the Hoosiers have surged under his leadership. Back-to-back national Coach of the Year awards and the two winningest seasons in school history only reinforce the scale of the transformation.
Cignetti and his staff, many of whom followed him from IUP, Elon and James Madison, have rebuilt the roster with precision. But the spotlight also belongs to quarterback Fernando Mendoza. The Heisman Trophy winner has not only lived up to the postseason pressure, he has elevated his play. Through two playoff rounds, Mendoza has been outstanding, and the growing NFL Draft buzz around a potential No. 1 overall pick has only intensified. He arrived from Cal with raw physical gifts, but his development as a polished pocket passer and his chemistry with Indiana’s receivers have created matchup problems that defenses have struggled to solve. The talent was always there, but at Indiana, Mendoza has become the best quarterback in the country while leading one of the nation’s best teams.
The word “team” is central to Indiana’s identity. While Cignetti and Mendoza collect the headlines, the program’s rise is rooted in a top-down commitment to execution and buy-in. This roster is not built on a stockpile of former four-star and five-star recruits. It is a blend of players from every level of college football who do their jobs, play clean, and refuse to beat themselves. That discipline has allowed Indiana to erase any perceived talent gap in wins over Oregon twice, as well as victories against Ohio State and Alabama.
Indiana has reached this point by being organized, physical, and relentlessly consistent. One more win would turn a historic season into a legendary one.
The Hoosiers turned three first-half takeaways into touchdowns, watched Fernando Mendoza fire five scoring passes, and steamrolled No. 5 Oregon 56-22 in the Peach Bowl semifinal.
Mendoza — Indiana’s Heisman Trophy winner — delivered another masterpiece. Returning to his hometown for the championship game, he arrives fresh off a near-perfect performance: 17 of 20 passing, five touchdowns, and total command of the offense. Elijah Sarratt hauled in two of those scores, while Charlie Becker added a 36-yard strike. Kaelon Black powered the ground game with two rushing touchdowns.
Indiana’s defense, the heartbeat of this undefeated run, set the tone immediately. On Oregon’s first snap, D’Angelo Ponds jumped a route, intercepted Dante Moore, and sprinted 25 yards for a touchdown — just 11 seconds into the game. It was the first sign that Oregon’s night would be dictated by Indiana’s relentless pressure.
By halftime, Indiana led 35-7 and had held the Ducks to nine rushing yards on 17 attempts. Oregon, already missing its top two running backs, had no answers for Indiana’s speed or physicality. Moore lost two fumbles under heavy pressure, both leading to Hoosier touchdowns. Mendoza’s scoring throws to Omar Cooper Jr., Sarratt, and E.J. Williams Jr. turned the game into a rout before the third quarter even began.
Special teams joined the party in the fourth quarter when Daniel Ndukwe blocked a punt, setting up Mendoza’s second touchdown to Sarratt.
This semifinal win followed Indiana’s 38-3 dismantling of Alabama in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal — another showcase of the Hoosiers’ complete command on both sides of the ball.
Indiana’s presence was felt far beyond the field. The Peach Bowl crowd was a sea of red, with Hoosier fans making up an estimated 80% of the 75,604 in attendance. Philadelphia Phillies star and Indiana native Kyle Schwarber served as an honorary captain, adding another layer of Hoosier pride to the night.
The victory also completed a season sweep of Oregon. Indiana won the first meeting 30-20 in Eugene on Oct. 11, a game in which the defense intercepted Moore twice and sacked him six times. Friday’s semifinal only reinforced the same truth: Indiana is the more complete, more physical, and more disciplined team.
With one game left, Indiana stands on the doorstep of immortality — a perfect season, a national championship, and a legacy that will echo across the state for generations.
Miami Hurricanes
Mario Cristobal has delivered on the promise he made when he returned to his alma mater: Miami would compete for championships again. A two-time national champion as a Hurricanes offensive lineman, Cristobal now has his program back on the sport’s biggest stage thanks to a College Football Playoff run that has captured the attention of the entire country. Miami entered the bracket as the final at-large team at No. 10, but after upsetting No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 2 Ohio State, the Hurricanes arrived in the semifinals with momentum and belief. Against Ole Miss, Miami led early, fell behind late, and then leaned on Carson Beck’s poise to engineer the game-winning touchdown drive in a 31-27 classic.
This Miami surge did not begin in the postseason. It traces back to an overtime loss at SMU on Nov. 1, a moment that left the Hurricanes with no margin for error. With their playoff hopes hanging in the balance, Miami closed the regular season with four straight ACC wins by an average of 27.5 points. That run placed the Hurricanes in a five-way tie for second in the conference, but the league’s tiebreaker formula kept them out of the ACC Championship Game. Without a conference title path, Miami needed an at-large bid, and the selection committee’s decision to elevate the Hurricanes over Notre Dame based on their Week 1 head-to-head win proved decisive.
Now, the last team into the field has a chance to be the last team standing. And if Miami finishes the job, the defense will deserve a massive share of the credit. The Hurricanes posted first-half shutouts against both Texas A&M and Ohio State, then became the first team since Oct. 11 to hold Ole Miss under 30 points. Reuben Bain and Akheem Mesidor have formed one of the nation’s most disruptive pass-rushing tandems, and their ability to pressure Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza will be central to Miami’s title hopes.
Offensively, Beck’s late-game heroics have earned headlines, but Miami’s success has been built on balance. Running back Mark Fletcher, wide receiver Malachi Toney, and a physical offensive line have shaped the identity of this unit. Beck arrived from Georgia, but Fletcher and Toney are homegrown talents who have helped restore the standard of The U on a national level. Four years into Cristobal’s tenure, the roster reflects a deliberate blend of high school recruits he targeted early and transfer portal additions evaluated to fit specific needs.
Cristobal represents Miami’s storied past, but he is also the architect of its future. With a modern roster-building approach and a team that has embraced his vision, the Hurricanes are one win away from completing one of the most improbable and memorable championship runs the CFP has seen.
Miami’s climb back to the top of college football has been anything but smooth — a long, bruising journey marked by setbacks, rebuilds, and constant doubt from the outside world. But through every twist, the Hurricanes kept pushing, kept believing, and kept building toward a moment like this.
In the Fiesta Bowl, which was a College Football Playoff semifinal game, that belief carried Miami. Carson Beck’s 3-yard scramble with 18 seconds left sealed a 31-27 win over Mississippi and sent the Hurricanes back to South Florida with a chance to claim their first national championship since 2001 — and to do it on their own turf at Hard Rock Stadium.
“We never flinched,” Beck said after throwing for 268 yards and two touchdowns. “When adversity hit, we answered.”
The 10th-ranked Hurricanes (13-2) heard all the noise about whether they belonged in the College Football Playoff. They didn’t win the ACC. They weren’t supposed to be here. But Miami didn’t listen. Instead, they shut down Texas A&M and defending national champion Ohio State, holding both to a combined 17 points, and arrived in the desert determined to prove the committee right.
For three quarters, Miami’s defense — transformed in its first season under coordinator Corey Hetherman — smothered a high-powered Ole Miss offense. The Hurricanes allowed minus-1 rushing yard in the opening quarter and controlled the game’s tempo with a patient, physical offensive approach.
Malachi Toney, the hero of Miami’s CFP opener, struck again with a 36-yard catch-and-run that put the Hurricanes ahead 24-19. Even when Ole Miss surged late behind Trinidad Chambliss and Dae’Quan Wright, Miami stayed composed.
Then came Beck’s moment. A former national champion at Georgia, now the steady heartbeat of Miami’s offense, Beck guided the Hurricanes down the field with total command. His late touchdown run capped a drive that felt like a decade of Miami frustration finally breaking open.
Now 37-5 as a starter, Beck gets one more shot at glory — this time wearing orange and green, this time with a title on the line in Miami Gardens.
“He’s hungry, he’s driven, and he wants his teammates to shine,” head coach Mario Cristobal said. “Tonight, you saw exactly who he is.”
Ole Miss, playing under interim coach Pete Golding after Lane Kiffin’s departure, refused to fold. Carneiro’s four field goals and Chambliss’ late heroics kept the Rebels within striking distance until the final play, when a last-second heave into the end zone fell incomplete. But this night belonged to Miami.
The Hurricanes weathered every punch, every momentum swing, every reminder of how far they’ve come since the early-season struggles that once made this run seem impossible.
Miami’s defense, once a liability, now looks like the backbone of a championship contender. Even after giving up a 73-yard touchdown run — the longest allowed by the Hurricanes since 2018 — they tightened, adjusted, and held Ole Miss in check long enough for the offense to find its rhythm.
Beck hit Keelan Marion for a 52-yard strike just before halftime, a reminder that Miami still has the explosiveness that defined its glory years. CharMar Brown added a tough 4-yard touchdown run, and the Hurricanes controlled the line of scrimmage when it mattered most.
By the time the final whistle blew, Miami had done more than win a semifinal. They had reclaimed their identity.
They had reminded the country what Hurricanes football looks like when it’s built on toughness, swagger, and belief.
And now, they head home — one win away from a championship, one win away from completing one of the most meaningful comebacks in program history.
2025-2026 College Football Schedule
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