The champion of the 2025 college football season will be crowned on Monday, as the No. 1-seed Indiana Hoosiers and the No. 10-seed Miami Hurricanes are the last two teams standing.
The Hoosiers are looking to become the third college football program to finish 16-0 in the sport’s history, joining the North Dakota State Bison in 2016, and the iconic Yale Bulldogs of 1894. For Indiana, a win would give the program its first football championship in school history.
As for Miami, the Hurricanes are looking to win the program’s first title since 2001. Despite being the lower seed, they do have home-field advantage as the game will be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. According to ESPN, teams that are playing for the title in their home state have a 4-4 record. The Hurricanes would become the first to win the title at their actual home stadium.
With this game set to have the most expensive get-in price college football has seen, as the average ticket is over $4,000, there has been much anticipation. Just about everyone is taking a whack at predicting the winner, including Texas quarterback, Arch Manning.
Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) runs with the ball against the Michigan Wolverines. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
In an interview with Bleacher Report, Manning was asked who he’d pick, with the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning going with the Hoosiers.
“I got to go with Indiana,” Manning said. “I think Fernando’s (Mendoza) been playing at a high level. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. So, I got to go Indiana.”
Manning also praised Mendoza’s accuracy, saying that it’d be the one thing he’d want to steal from his game if given the chance. A stance that isn’t too shocking, considering Mendoza had one of the most precise games a quarterback could have in the team’s 56-22 win over Oregon in the semifinals.
“Probably right now just his accuracy,” Manning said. “He played really well in the last game against Oregon. And his leadership of course.”
Mendoza completed 17-of-20 passes for 177 yards and five touchdowns in the win.
While Manning seems to have more faith that the Hoosiers will get it done, he did rave about how much pressure the Miami defense generates.
Monday night’s championship game will kick off at 4:30 p.m. ET and air on ESPN. As of writing, the Hoosiers are heading into the game as 8.5-point favorites according to DraftKings, with ESPN’s FPI giving them a 68.3% chance of winning.