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College football's final four is set

When Indiana met Oregon in October, the game served as the best test yet of whether the Hoosiers were a one-year wonder or a program that was here to stay.

They met that challenge with a double-digit win that snapped Oregon’s 18-game home winning streak. Next week comes a rematch with a trip to the national title game at stake.

A pair of Big Ten blowouts in Thursday’s quarterfinals — Indiana 38, Alabama 3 and Oregon 23, Texas Tech 0 — set up Oregon-Indiana, Part 2 in the national semifinals at the Peach Bowl next Friday.

“Why would it be too big for them? Because the name’s ‘Indiana?’” Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti said after his team passed its latest big-time test.

Indiana was the only team of the eight with first-round byes in the two-year history of the playoff to win their quarterfinal.

The other semifinal will feature Miami against Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl next Thursday. It will be a matchup between Hurricanes QB Carson Beck and the Rebels, who are now 2-0 since the abrupt departure of coach Lane Kiffin. The sixth-seeded Rebels (13-1) rallied from nine points down at halftime to beat Georgia 39-34 Thursday in the Sugar Bowl.

Quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza of Indiana Dante Moore of Oregon are projected as the top two picks on many 2026 draft boards. Mendoza is trying to join a rarified list of quarterbacks (among them, Jameis Winston, Cam Newton and Matt Leinart) who have won the Heisman and the national title in the same season.

The 10th-seeded Hurricanes, who beat Ohio State on New Year’s Eve, haven’t faced Mississippi since 1951. But this is a matchup steeped in the modern-day realities of college football.

Beck, the Miami quarterback, played at Georgia last season, but an injury in the SEC title game ended his season and sent his draft stock plummeting.

Looking for a change of scenery, Beck bolted for Miami and the reported $4 million NIL deal it offered. It was the first seismic move in the 2025 transfer portal.

Going against Beck will be Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss, who led Division II Ferris State to the national title last year. He is now two wins away from taking the Rebels to a Division I crown.



(AP Photo Lynn Sladky)
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