Colin Cowherd Podcast - INSTANT REACTION: Indiana Wins National Championship, Miami Clearly 2nd Best Team, NIL Has Transformed College Football

We’ve got a new national champ and it makes three straight for the Big Ten; Miami was worthy, Indiana kept answering in money downs, and you can feel the SEC’s lead shrinking as Miami’s NIL power and Indiana’s new backing kick in.

It was trench football with an NFL rhythm, Mendoza got smoked and bounced up, and Indiana felt like the most complete team out there with no soft spot and field-flipping special teams.

Indiana’s special teams are rare at this level, and even while chasing, their gutsy calls and clean execution held up, and the Big Ten’s top tier next year looks deeper and stronger than any league.

This is a coaching conference now, and Signetti coached like the best in the country, hunting Miami’s weak link like an NFL staff while the portal and money help him keep his core.

With older rosters, free agency vibes, and a playoff that mirrors Sundays, this felt professional, and Indiana plays like grown men who do not hand you the game.

Indiana’s fan base just woke up to big-time football, the alumni already live for the sport, and with a coach who says he is staying, that support is about to surge.

Their grads have money spread across major cities, you could see the sea of Hoosier fans, and Mendoza has that true number one aura with size, touch, toughness, and calm command.

Think Goff or Dak when the build is right, because his decisions and resilience translate, and he feels like a lock at one with the pressure on the Raiders to surround him.

Cristobal deserves credit too, because Miami improved, coached well in-game, and played with their trademark edge, but a blocked punt for six is the one mistake you cannot make against Indiana.

Miami’s next leap is landing a first-round quarterback, because the ACC is there to be owned while Mario keeps stacking lines and young skill talent.

Big picture, the Big Ten sits on top while Notre Dame and Miami swim in real NIL, and the SEC’s aura is fading outside a surging Texas that could be the class of that league next season.

The teams to fear there are Texas and A and M because budget beats history now.

NIL has changed behavior with far fewer early entrants, and the richest programs benefit most as recruiting turns openly transactional.

I’ve got an NIL agent friend working a million and a half for a receiver who would be the third option, and blue blood endowments are throwing off cash as markets rise.

Is that level of giving sustainable if donors do not see wins for a couple of years.

It tracks the broader economy, so while money is flowing the checks clear, and a downturn is what would cool the spend.

Right now it is a windfall and those Indiana boosters are about to flood the program, and the Big Ten feels ascendant.

Ratings and attendance are roaring again, the sport is national not regional, and Miami versus Indiana drew eyes from every corner.

Football wins on scarcity and urgency, every snap matters, and the impatience around coaching churn only adds juice.

This is a turnaround sport where older rookies contribute immediately and coaching swings games, so franchises and programs can flip fast.

Owners now have the cash to fire and reset because TV and stadium money dwarfs the old days, which is why you see expensive do-overs across the league.

The league cuts checks around approximately 440 million dollars per team before you even count game day and retail, and home playoff dates stack more on top.

Stadium events from Taylor Swift to WWE are massive profit centers, and new buildings in Vegas and Santa Clara transformed those franchises overnight.

I’m back into baseball as the right brands surge, while the NBA’s fear of dynasties misses that fans love blue bloods when they are great.

The NBA’s tanking problem makes too many nights unwatchable, while even bad NFL teams play hard, which keeps the product compelling.

Hoosier football wins 27 to 21, third straight Big Ten crown, sixteen and 0 and a throwback kind of history, and that was a blast.