{"id":406674,"date":"2026-01-14T13:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T13:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/406674\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T13:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T13:19:08","slug":"greg-mcelroy-makes-college-football-playoff-national-championship-pick-between-miami-indiana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/406674\/","title":{"rendered":"Greg McElroy makes College Football Playoff national championship pick between Miami, Indiana"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the College Football Playoff<\/a> national championship set, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy<\/a> has made his prediction. He\u2019s backing the Indiana Hoosiers<\/a> to finish a historic run.<\/p>\n

On the latest episode of Always College Football with Greg McElroy<\/a>, the former Alabama quarterback previewed<\/a> the matchup between Indiana and the Miami Hurricanes<\/a>. Ultimately, he\u2019s projecting the Hoosiers to pull away late and claim their first national championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Miami is going to hang tough in this game. I absolutely think Miami will make this a competitive ballgame,\u201d McElroy said. \u201cBut the Hoosiers eventually will pull away with a touchdown with Roman Hemby<\/a> to seal the first 16-0 season in 12-team playoff history. Final score for me, Indiana 27, Miami 20. The Hoosiers win their first national championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alas, it should be an exciting game, and McElroy thinks the Big Ten will capture yet another national title. The game will be played Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium, where Miami will enjoy a familiar setting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Hurricanes were selected as the unofficial home team after the venue was chosen back in 2022 to host the 2025 championship game. Despite the location, McElroy expects Indiana\u2019s fan base to show up in force.<\/p>\n

More on Indiana vs. Miami, National Championship <\/p>\n

Meanwhile,\u00a0 Hoosiers enter the championship with a spotless 15-0 record and plenty of momentum. Last Friday, Indiana delivered a statement performance in the Peach Bowl, overwhelming the Oregon Ducks<\/a> 56-22 to punch its ticket to the title game.<\/p>\n

Miami\u2019s path was far more dramatic. The Hurricanes survived a thriller against the Ole Miss Rebels<\/a> in the Fiesta Bowl, sealing the win with a late touchdown in the final minutes.<\/p>\n

Historically, the matchup is evenly split. Indiana and Miami have met just twice, with each program owning one win. Their most recent meeting came in 1966, when Miami edged Indiana 14-7.<\/p>\n

Now, both teams are chasing history. Miami is seeking their first national championship since 2001, while Indiana is aiming to capture the first title in program history, and potentially complete the first undefeated 16-0 season in the 12-team playoff era.<\/p>\n

All told, the College Football Playoff National Championship kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Jan. 19 and will air live on ESPN. Time will tell if it\u2019s Indiana or Miami who stands above the rest, but either team has proven worthy of the distinction this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the College Football Playoff national championship set, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy has made his prediction. He\u2019s backing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,12693,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-406674","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-greg-mcelroy","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football","12":"tag-ncaafootball","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}