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Special Edition   •   Edition #1377   •  Jan 19, 2026

Leveling The Playing Field

From The GIST Team

It's gameday!

The No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers and No. 10 Miami Hurricanes take the gridiron for NCAA football's grand finale, the College Football Playoff (CFP) national championship, tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET. You know the drill: Today's newsletter has everything you need to know before the confetti falls (and one GISTer wins our bracket challenge). Hut, hut, here we go.

Quote of The Day

	I do smile, and I am happy — at times.
	— Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti on his famously grumpy intense facial expressions, on display even when the Hoosiers are playing well (which is often the case these days). Could hoisting a national championship trophy turn that frown upside down?

The Breakdown

🏆 The road to the championship Source: CBS Sports The history of determining college football's national champion is…messy, and the sport's leaders have been tinkering with the postseason format for decades to make it as fair, transparent, entertaining, and, well, profitable as possible. In 2014, the Football Bowl Subdivision (aka the sport's top teams) switched from traditional bowl games to a bracket-style competition for the first time, and the CFP was born. For the first 10 years, only four teams made the bracket — until last year, when it expanded to 12. Just like in March Madness, a committee decides which teams make the bracket via a combination of automatic and at-large bids, determined via a convoluted process. But unlike March Madness' sprawling 68-team brackets, there are often more championship-caliber football teams than there are spots, and that means someone is almost always snubbed. This year's snub was No. 11 Notre Dame, whom many fans thought should have made the bracket over Miami. That added fuel to the Hurricanes' fire, driving them to overcome the odds and reach their first title game of the CFP era. 👀 The game's most powerful teams and conferences aren't done altering the CFP format just yet — there's lots of talk about switching up the auto-bid process, changing the stakes of conference championship games, and even expanding the bracket once again to 16 teams or more. But in the meantime, all eyes are on Indiana and Miami as they duke it out for eternal glory.

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❤️ The No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers Source: USA Today 📚 The history: The aforementioned Cignetti has led Indiana through a turnaround for the ages. In two years, he elevated one of the worst football teams in the Power Four to a national championship contender. The Hoosiers are a prime example of how NIL has changed the sport, proving that spending enough money in the right way can reinvent programs overnight. More money, more problems wins. This hasn't just been the best football season in school history — the Hoosiers are one of the most dominant teams in recent memory, running the country's second-best offense and second-best defense, while winning by an average of 31.5 points per game. Holy moly. 👀 Players to watch: Hoosiers quarterback (QB) and certified mama's boy Fernando Mendoza has somehow only gotten better since winning the Heisman Trophy (college football's MVP award). He tossed eight touchdowns and zero interceptions in Indiana's massive playoff wins over No. 9 Alabama and No. 5 Oregon, completing 31 of 36 passes. Unreal. A huge part of Mendoza's success is his superstar offensive line, led by center Pat Coogan. When the linemen win offensive MVP at the Rose Bowl, you know something special is happening. 🔑 Key to victory: Play their game — or, as the undefeated Hoosiers themselves would put it, "do your job." Indiana has been on a warpath all season long, and they show no signs of slowing down.

🌀 The No. 10 Miami Hurricanes Source: ESPN 📚 The history: Historically, Miami is a college football powerhouse, but it's been a while since they've truly contended for the sport's top prize — they won their last natty in 2001, and this is the first time they've made the CFP bracket, let alone the title game. As mentioned, the Canes barely squeaked into the playoff, but they've certainly proved they belong: They posted three straight postseason wins over higher-seeded teams, including reigning champ No. 2 Ohio State. 👀 Players to watch: Sixth-year QB Carson Beck is no stranger to the CFP. He was Georgia's backup when they won back-to-back championships in 2021 and 2022, and he led them to the No. 2 seed as the Bulldogs' starter last year. After transferring to Miami in the offseason, he's become the heart and soul of this offense. On the other side of the ball, Miami's passing defense will have to bring their best — and that means leaning heavily on defensive back Jakobe Thomas. The defensive MVP of the Canes' semifinal win over No. 6 Ole Miss is the best answer they have for Mendoza. 🔑 Key to victory: Slow down Indiana's juggernaut offense. Miami's defense is their calling card, but the Hoosiers will present their biggest challenge yet. If they can play into their home-field advantage, they might just pull out the biggest upset of the CFP era.

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📺 How to watch Source: Sports Business Journal It all goes down tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET. If you're in the U.S. catch it on ESPN, or tune into TSN in Canada — unless, of course, you're one of the lucky few who can afford a ticket to see the action IRL. RBFs, at the ready.

Fun and Games

Question of the Day While college football's power players toy around with the idea, we want to know what you think: Should the CFP expand to 16 teams? Yes! The more, the merrier No, keep it at 12 No, let's go back to four Something else

Today's email was brought to you by Katie Kehoe Foster and Lauren Tuiskula. Editing by Molly Potter. Fact-checking and operations by Elisha Gunaratnam. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster, Alessandra Puccio, and Lisa Minutillo. Managing edits by Lauren Tuiskula. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.

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