Only two teams in the playoff had a shot against Indiana. Miami is one of them.

Well, Indiana just made their matchup with Oregon look like an organized scrimmage. Indiana raced out to 35-7 halftime lead and never looked back.

The Hoosiers execution level is out of this world. Curt Cignetti is a freaking wizard. What can you say?

Coming into the playoffs, there were only two teams that I thought could beat Indiana. One was Ohio State which lost to Indiana 13-10 in the Big 10 Championship. Ohio State arguably had the most talented roster in the country, and I felt it had a fair shot to beat Indiana in a rematch. Of course, Ohio State never had that chance because the only other team capable of beating Indiana defeated the Buckeyes.

That is the Miami Hurricanes. I said this on January 1, and it’s still true.

The only team left in the field that can beat Indiana is Miami and they better be on their A game that day if they play. The Hoosiers just execute so well.

— Jeff or Jeffrey Fann (@TalkinACCSports) January 1, 2026

Miami has the makeup of the type of football team that has the best chance to beat Indiana.

Why?

Miami is more physical at the line of scrimmage than either Alabama or Oregon. Actually, it’s not even close. Alabama was a marshmallow on both sides. Oregon’s O-Line struggled against Texas Tech, and they were missing their top 2 RBs. The defensive line is better, but not even close to what the Canes bring.

As we saw with Oregon, when they weren’t shooting themselves in the foot, if they could get plays out in space, Indiana doesn’t have elite closing speed. Miami’s Malachi Toney might be the best open space player in the country.

Miami matches up with Indiana in a way no other team can.

With all that said, Miami has to be much sharper than they were against Ole Miss.

This is a considerable step up in competition, where mistakes like penalties and multiple dropped interceptions won’t be overcome against Indiana.

Indiana takes the smallest mistake and exploits it. A 5 yard penalty feels like 15. A punt that takes a few seconds too long gets blocked. A defensive back slips for a moment, and the QB Mendoza fires a laser for a 20-yard gain.

The Hoosiers have my full respect, and Miami is going to have to play very well to beat them, but they were and are the only semi-final team that might be able to.

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