MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Ohio State and Indiana cheered for the same team two years ago, but the respective fanbases had different reasons for their shared rooting interest.
It was Jan. 8, 2024, and Michigan was facing Washington in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game — the last of the four-team era.
Those who grew up in cream and crimson wanted the Huskies to win because it was the closest the Hoosiers thought they could get to a national title in football. Former Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was under center for UW while former IU offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer was his head coach.
Bloomington, Indiana, was on Washington’s side.
Those who wear scarlet and gray wanted the Wolverines to lose. Their rival was looking to cap its best season ever, highlighted by a third straight win against Ohio State.
Columbus, Ohio, was on Washington’s side.
That January night unknowingly set the stage for the next 24 months of college football. Two programs rooting for the same team for different reasons were on the cusp of finding glory.
I was in the stadium when they did.
Last year, I sat inside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium press box, watching Ohio State overcome the burden of failing to win a national title despite believing it had the sport’s best team many times. Last week, I sat in section 327 of Hard Rock Stadium, reacting as Indiana, my alma mater, completed the greatest turnaround in college football history.
Each title told a story of its own, but in witnessing the exuberance that resulted from victory, both championships taught me the same lesson.
Regardless of who you root for — a powerful juggernaut or an unlikely underdog — you long for championships because this sport and these schools are part of your identity. The moment you reach the mountain top, the pain, no matter how relatively small or large it was, becomes a worthwhile part of the journey.
Adversity makes victory more memorable
Indiana football stunk.
When I was a student, I purchased football season tickets only because you had to in order to get basketball season tickets. Why take time out of a Saturday in college to do anything other than party, especially when the alternative was watching a losing football team?
IU football fans always existed, despite the internet trying to convince people otherwise, but there was apathy around the program. You wanted the Hoosiers to win, but they hardly ever did — though Indiana never lost a tailgate.
Ryan Day won his first national title during the 2024 season. David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com
Ohio State has never experienced such a low. The Buckeyes have been the face of consistency in the sport, often earning the label of “recession proof.”
However, the program reached a dark point in November 2024.
As a three-score favorite, Ohio State lost at home to Michigan. It was coach Ryan Day’s fourth straight loss in The Game, and what happened afterward was horrifying.
Fans voiced their displeasure with Day as he walked up the Ohio Stadium tunnel. Players got into fights after Michigan tried to plant a flag on the field. Law enforcement got involved, deploying pepper spray on athletes from either side.
To the average college football fan, a 10-2 season with a CFP berth secured is enticing. It was a first-world problem for Ohio State to have, but it was still a problem.
The Buckeyes rallied a group of talented seniors to come back for the 2024 season. They had the better roster than Michigan — a program under NCAA investigation that also lost coach Jim Harbaugh to the NFL after the 2023 campaign. And yet there Ohio State stood, struggling to capitalize on a golden opportunity.
Fans were tired of lofty expectations leading to disappointment in the biggest games. There wasn’t apathy, but there was anger.
Fans are an important part of the journey
The Buckeyes had to repair their relationship with fans while the Hoosiers had to give fans a reason to believe in something more than an occasional bowl game loss.
OSU’s journey started on a cold December night back inside Ohio Stadium. Tennessee came to Columbus for a first-round matchup in the 2024 CFP, and the Vols helped create an eerie feeling inside The ‘Shoe.
Orange filled the stands pregame, suggesting the UT contingent would make its presence known. Some wondered if Ohio State fans were out on the coaching staff and wanted little to do with a program fresh off another devastating loss.
As kickoff approached, the bond between fans and program started to repair. Those in scarlet filled in just as OSU emerged from its tunnel, Day’s face showing fierce determination. The Buckeyes proceeded to send a message, thumping Tennessee and sparking a run.
Curt Cignetti led Indiana football to its first national title. AP
Indiana’s spark came, fittingly, inside Assembly Hall. IU basketball was at home for an early-December matchup with Maryland in 2023. That’s where recently hired football coach Curt Cignetti spoke to the crowd, delivering a now-famous moment.
“I’ve never taken a back seat to anybody and don’t plan on starting now,” Cignetti said. “Purdue sucks. But so does Michigan and Ohio State.”
His bold proclamation caught many by surprise. It created enemies, but it also rejuvenated a fanbase needing a reason to invest in its football program.
Winning never gets old
These moments of bonding were parlayed with winning.
Ohio State mended some distaste by beating Tennessee at home. The Buckeyes followed it up with wins against Oregon and Texas to earn a spot in the title game against Notre Dame.
Indiana took Cignetti’s declaration and followed it up with an 11-2 season in 2024 before a 15-0 start in 2025, bringing it to last week’s title game against Miami.
The Big Ten teams prevailed, bringing sheer joy to the fans, players and coaches who yearned for that feeling.
Tears filled Ohio State’s seats in Atlanta and Indiana’s seats in Miami. Jubilation filled the streets of the respective cities afterward, too.
The Buckeyes and Hoosiers have split their two meetings since Curt Cignetti was hired at Indiana. AP
I saw in Atlanta a sea of Ohio State student writers understanding of the magnitude of what they witnessed. OSU has a storied football program, but when you apply to attend the university, you’re not guaranteed a national title.
Many of those seniors for The Lantern hoped to witness a championship moment, but instead they risked graduating without a national title and a win against Michigan. They never got the latter, but watching the former from a seat many students don’t earn meant something.
I ran into a batch of Indiana student reporters outside the Hoosiers’ team hotel late Monday — er, early Tuesday morning. Through their eyes, you could see the feelings they were tasked with putting into words a couple hours before — shock, jubilation and a little bit of, “What just happened?”
When you apply to go to school at Indiana, you assume you won’t cover a national title run in football, so when it happens, you’re not sure what to make of it. But the magic overlapped with your time in school, and you got to watch it happen from a different seat than many of your peers.
The happiness is evident, regardless of how your school got there.
Will the story of 2025 Indiana be retold more than the tale of 2024 Ohio State? Sure, but both runs were met by a never-satisfied society.
The Buckeyes immediately dealt with, “Well, of course they won. That’s what they’re supposed to do.”
The Hoosiers are dealing with, “Well, is it sustainable? Can Cignetti do this without the James Madison guys?”
Who cares.
Those victorious nights will forever be part of stories you share, and nobody can take that from you. It’s part of who you are now.
You spend seasons, and offseasons, wondering if your team can win it all. Some fans expect it. Other fans never even dream of it.
But when it happens, they share the same tears and laughs. Whether you watched Indiana’s win in Miami or Ohio State’s win in Atlanta, you learned how much college football — even in its fractured state — means to those invested in it.