7 Numbers To Know Ahead Of The College Football Playoff Championship Game Between Miami And Indiana

One week from now, the Miami Hurricanes and Indiana Hoosiers will square off in the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

It will mark, perhaps, the most unexpected national championship game of all time between a historic power and one of the most historically lowly Power 4 programs.

However, it’s the upstart Hoosiers that come into the game as the No. 1 seed as the heavy favorite, with lines set anywhere between Indiana -7 and -8 depending on where you look.

Miami, however, comes into the contest riding an impressive three-game run through the playoffs, where it has dominated at the line of scrimmage.

We took a deep dive and came up with seven numbers to look for that could ultimately decide the 2026 national champion.

45 – Fernando Mendoza Red Zone Touchdowns Without An Interception

There’s a reason Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza enters this contest as the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and the presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

The Miami native, ironically enough, has thrown for 3,349 yards, 41 touchdowns, and just six interceptions this season, leading an explosive Hoosiers offense.

But where Mendoza really shines is in the red zone.

Over the last two seasons with Indiana and Cal, the start quarterback has accounted for 45 touchdowns, 37 passing and eight rushing, with zero interceptions. If he continues that flawless red zone play for one more game, the Hurricanes might be in trouble.

47 – Indiana Players In Their Fourth Year Of College Football Or Later

By now you’ve seen all the talk about Indiana’s average age. While nobody has been able to verify exactly how old the Hoosiers are on average, there’s no denying their veteran presence.

But hey, it’s well within the rules.

Indiana boasts 47 players on their roster who are either in their fourth year of college football or later. By comparison, Miami has just 28 players with four or more years of experience.

$7.3 – Estimated Million Dollars Spent On Starting Quarterbacks

Because NIL deals are not public knowledge, it’s impossible to say exactly what Mendoza and Miami starting quarterback Carson Beck cost their respective teams.

But reports put Mendoza’s deal with Indiana somewhere in the range of $2.3 million, while Beck’s deal is said to have started at $4 million with incentives that could allow him to reach up to $6 million in total.

For our estimate, we’ve split the difference.

That makes both Mendoza and Beck among the highest-paid players in the country, and it’s hard to argue they weren’t worth the investment.

99 – Receptions For Miami Star Freshman Malachi Toney

While much of the talk is about Indiana’s experience, it’s a true freshman in the form of star wide receiver Malachi Toney, who leads the way on offense for the ‘Canes.

Toney, a three-star recruit, actually reclassified from the high school class of 2026 to 2025 in order to join Miami a year early, and they’re sure glad he did.

The spark plug wide receiver has 99 catches for 1,089 yards and nine touchdowns this season. In the Hurricanes’ win over Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl, Toney caught five passes for 81 yards, including a key fourth-quarter touchdown on a screen pass that saw him make several Rebels defenders miss.

27 – Indiana Players Left Over From The 2023 Roster

In 2023, the Indiana Hoosiers went just 3-9, including a 1-8 record in Big Ten play. After the season, they fired head coach Tom Allen and replaced him with Curt Cignetti, who has since turned over the roster and become known as one of, if not the best, coach in the sport.

But not everyone from that 2023 team left. In fact, 27 players on Indiana’s 2025 roster were also on the 2023 roster, including star wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr.

Cooper Jr. caught 18 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns as a redshirt freshman in 2023. This year, he has 64 catches for 866 yards and 13 touchdowns, including an incredible last-second touchdown catch against Penn State that kept the Hoosiers’ perfect season alive.

54 – The Average Difference, In Pounds, Between Miami’s O-Line And Indiana’s D-Line

Unsurprisingly, Miami head coach Mario Cristobal has built his program from the trenches out.

Cristobal is a former All-Conference tackle for the Hurricanes who won a pair of national championships as a player. He then went on to become one of the nation’s elite offensive line coaches before moving up the ladder.

Miami’s offensive line, led by projected first-round NFL Draft pick Francis Mauigoa at right tackle, has an average size of 6-foot-6 and 329 pounds for the six players who regularly see the field.

Conversely, the average defensive lineman in the Indiana rotation stands at a relatively small 6-foot-2 and 275 pounds. Now, the Hoosiers also run more twists and stunts than any team in the country on defense, which helps them negate that size disadvantage.

But Miami has made it this far by winning at the line of scrimmage on offense. And if it comes down to sheer force, they could well do just that against the Hoosiers.

9 – Times Miami Has Played For A National Championship

Monday’s game will mark the ninth time that the Hurricanes have stepped onto a football field with a chance to claim a national championship.

In eight prior instances, the Hurricanes have walked away with five national titles, with the lone exceptions coming in the 1968 Sugar Bowl, 1987 Fiesta Bowl, and 2003 BCS National Championship Game.

Conversely, the Hooisers have never played for a college football national championship.

Does that mean anything in 2026? Probably not. But winning national championships is in the DNA of the Miami Hurricanes program. Cristobal has a pair in his own right. Sometimes, that sort of thing is what puts you over the top in a game like this.