Indiana will play for the first football national title in school history on Jan. 19 at the College Football Playoff championship game in Miami Gardens, Fla., but the Hoosiers have been so dominant this postseason they are now competing with legendary teams of years past.

Should the Hoosiers (15-0) defeat Miami (13-2), they will enter the discussion alongside some of the best national champions of the CFP era. During Friday night’s 56-22 win over Oregon, ESPN color commentator Greg McElroy made multiple comparisons to 2019 LSU, setting the table for a debate few would have entertained as recently as a month ago.

General resume

2019 LSU

Stat

2025 Indiana

15-0

Record

15-0

7

Top-10 wins

5

26.5

Avg. margin of victory

31.1

3rd

SOS (ESPN FPI)

15th

+10

Turnover margin

+21

At first blush, it’s difficult to get past the Tigers’ offensive firepower. Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow finished with 60 touchdown passes, and his top receivers included current NFL superstars Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. Those names alone end just about any debate. LSU averaged 568.4 yards of total offense per game.

But these Hoosiers can hang statistically, albeit in different ways. LSU averaged 48.4 points per game, but Indiana puts up 42.2 per game with Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza. While the Hoosiers average about 100 fewer yards per game on offense, they possess a far better running attack than that LSU team did, with 52 more yards per game on the ground and a half-yard more per carry.

Offensive comparison

2019 LSU

Stat

2025 Indiana

48.4

Points per game

42.2

3.6

Points per drive

3.7

568.4

Yards per game

461.0

7.9

Yards per play

7.0

197.4

Pass efficiency rating

189.9

166.8