The Aftermath of a Title: How Indiana’s national championship altered the fabric of its Bloomington campus

On the morning of January 20, the streets of Bloomington, Indiana were quiet.

It was just like any other Tuesday. Dead leaves skirted across the pavement as the wind whistled down the streets leading up to Sample Gates. Some students were walking to their 8 a.m. classes; some may have been listening to music on their headphones. Nothing was out of the ordinary on what was a chilly winter morning around the campus of Indiana University.

But the night before, those streets were filled to capacity. On the corner of Kirkwood Avenue and Dunn Street, students were shoulder to shoulder; they could barely move — but they didn’t care.

That night, Indiana won the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship Game. The first in school history. An incredible moment for the Bloomington and IU community, but once the bars closed, the students went back to their homes — what was next?

The spring semester was just one week down — 15 weeks to go. Nearly an entire semester awaited Indiana University after quite possibly the most pivotal athletic event in the school’s history, as the incredible feat of winning the national title encapsulated what has been seen over the course of the past three months.

“I feel like the entire vibe of the town has genuinely been different,” a senior studying audio engineering said.

And the difference might not be completely obvious to the naked eye – outside of the plethora of CFP merchandise students have started wearing, of course. It’s a shift in the fabric of the university and how the members of the student community view the athletic programs that represent it.

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“They are fully turned on to the idea that Indiana is a football school, this is a legitimate football program, and it’s theirs,” associate dean of the IU Media School Galen Clavio explained. “There’s so much buzz still and people are still so excited about everything that happened this last year that that’s such a different thing.”

Football success resulting in increased excitement around the sport is no surprise. Fans love to see their team finding success, but in a way – Indiana’s shift toward football fandom was years in the making outside of Curt Cignetti’s establishment of a winner in Bloomington.

Even when the football team was a perennial loser, fans still were invested in everything that a gameday offered. Outside of Memorial Stadium, the tailgate lots were still packed, and students still looked forward to every Saturday during the fall because of that reason.

For a Big Ten school, nothing about this is uncommon. But for an institution so commonly dubbed a “basketball school,” it goes against the grain of what someone would expect from IU – especially considering the lack of success that surrounded the Hoosier football program.

In 2022, Indiana went 4-8, and in 2023, it regressed to 3-9. Memorial Stadium sold out one game between those two seasons, and yet, football was still an experience – more so than basketball was.

“It’s an event. It’s not just a game,” Clavio explained. “And it’s because of how communal it is.”

He mentioned that football is geared more towards the student audience. Tailgates, parties, and hanging out with friends is considerably more appealing than standing in the GA line at Assembly Hall in below-freezing temperatures during basketball season.

Social media pictures and videos are a staple of football season. But when basketball comes around? Not so much. Even when the Hoosiers were in the cellar of the Big Ten on the gridiron, there was always still a buzz around football. The experience, the whole thing – not necessarily the team itself, however.

But 2025 changed all of that. Students didn’t just like football because it gave them an excuse to day drink; they loved the team because of what they put out onto the field. Fandom was more than it was in the past, and with each of the 16 wins throughout 2025, it only grew until it reached the climax of it all – the national championship game in Miami.

Pure joy was seen inside Hard Rock Stadium as well as the streets of Bloomington, but that excitement has stayed, and the events throughout the spring semester all serve as proof that Indiana University is fundamentally a different landscape when it comes to student perception of athletics.

“Everyone’s talking about football over basketball,” the audio engineering student said. “The current student body is definitely more excited about football… even these past few months,” a junior in the business school added.

Even as Hoosier basketball was in the midst of Darian DeVries’ first season, fans were still wrapped up in everything that the football team was doing. During the IU vs. Purdue basketball game the week after the national title game – one of the loudest cheers of the night came when Cignetti and a handful of players walked out onto the floor carrying the CFP trophy.

A few weeks later, when the 1975-76 Hoosiers were recognized during the 50th anniversary of their perfect basketball season, there was mention of IU football. Quinn Buckner, the representative of the ‘76 team, took the microphone and used Cignetti’s Hoosiers as a way to fire up the crowd.

Every single time football season tickets were announced on the PA at Assembly Hall, fans went crazy – whether they were in the market to purchase them or not. 

As February turned into March, the NFL Combine brought about more buzz for Indiana football, with several Hoosiers looking to turn pro. The community rallied behind them, with fans showing up at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy to watch IU’s representatives go through different drills.

After spring break, IU put up national champion banners on Bloomington streetlights. As folks walk near the stadium, or down Kirkwood, they’re reminded of the football team, and just how proud the university is of it.

While IU basketball was bringing out frustration and missing the NCAA Tournament, spring practice began just a short time later – and with that, the spring game provided an opportunity for fans to display their continued infatuation with Hoosier football.

“The fact that you had as many students as you did go to the spring game,” Clavio said. “There’s a real sense, it feels like just from what I observed, of students feeling an ownership of the program and a fandom of the program.”

On April 23, the Indiana Spring Game brought what was believed to be a record attendance – official numbers aren’t available for the non-ticketed event – but it was clear to the program that this was a historic night.

“I was here in 2024, where there was nobody here,” Tyrique Tucker said. “Just to see the turnaround that we were able to do in such a short amount of time is amazing to see. I was in awe of it.”

And from the students that got to see the difference in the spring games, they saw the difference in the way that their peers showed up for their football team.

“I went to the first Cignetti spring game before he had ever won a single game here,” a Mathematics major, said. “There was legitimately nobody there. It was so quiet you could hear the coaches yelling to the players on the field — this felt like a whole event, it felt like there were more people at this game than some of the actual games my freshman year — last year’s team was so special and this felt like a celebration of them with a little appetizer of the new team.”

Before it even started, the scene around the lots adjacent to Memorial Stadium were more of a regular-season game than a spring game from previous years. Folks were out tailgating, students hung out, and even partied around the stadium.

And in one of the lots, a flagpole included a flag that read “Indiana Hoosiers, 2025 national champions,” but right below that, there was a Las Vegas Raiders flag. Because Thursday night wasn’t just about what was going on in Bloomington; it was also opening night of the NFL Draft.

“And with the first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders select Fernando Mendoza, quarterback, Indiana,” Roger Goodell announced in Pittsburgh.

And as word of Mendoza’s selection spread around the fans during the first quarter of the spring game, they started to cheer, clap, and celebrate. It was followed by IU putting the pick on the videoboard during the next timeout, and the crowd responded accordingly.

“I thought it was a tremendous turnout, a lot of excitement with Fernando, the draft, and getting back on the field. Really appreciate the crowd coming out, and I thought it was a really good night,” Cignetti said.

Once Thursday night concluded, and Mendoza as well as Omar Cooper Jr. were selected in the first round, the excitement surrounding Indiana football didn’t cease. On Friday, two more Hoosiers were picked, while the IU community kept supporting them.

During the week, a mural was commissioned to commemorate the 2025 champions, including Mendoza front and center holding the hardware. Outside of People’s Park in the heart of downtown Bloomington, Hoosier football would be there for all to see – with the demonstration  of painting the tribute to Cignetti’s program done with a few weeks left of the semester.

“It’s a place where the counterculture goes to protest what’s going on in society, and they’re painting a mural dedicated to IU football,” Clavio explained. “There was such an emotional connection there because it represented so much about how I think a lot of IU fans feel about themselves.”

The weekend that was usually reserved for Little 500 festivities suddenly turned to a football celebration as well. At the bars where students frequented during and after the Women’s Little 500 race, students anxiously awaited the next Hoosier to be selected. 

This continued into Saturday, with four more Hoosiers hearing their names called to total the number of draft picks to eight – a program record. 

And as the Men’s Little 500 race was going on, some were equally as tuned into where IU players were getting selected as the bikes going around the track at Bill Armstrong Stadium. “Has Aiden Fisher been picked?” one said. “Where did Pat Coogan go?” 

A three-day stretch that’s considered “The greatest party weekend in the world” was infiltrated by a sport that had previously been irrelevant on Indiana’s campus once the last tailgate was over.

“It’s another signpost in the growth and maturation of the program,” Jeremy Gray, senior associate athletic director for strategic communications at IU, said.

The spring game being on the Thursday before Little 500 weekend kicked off wasn’t completely by design according to Gray, as that’s just how the spring football calendar and Big Ten Network TV scheduling worked out. 

But it was a coincidence that was able to showcase the difference in how the IU community views football – and students and the rest of the fanbase responded. They delivered a weekend aimed at fusing its party culture and its newfound appreciation for football, something frankly remarkable given the history of the university.

Indiana also used it to its advantage on the recruiting trail, as a happy accident just happened to be a benefit to the fans. Cignetti and staff hosted over 10 official visits, with many more making the trip as unofficial visits.

The No. 1 player in the class of 2027, Jalen Brewster, was in Bloomington, as was the No. 1 receiver in the country, Monshun Sales. It was, by all accounts, the biggest recruiting weekend in IU football history as far as stars are concerned – and it was a calculated decision.

“It’s been really cool to see the overall level of recruits increase over the past 6-9 months,” IU commit Jameson Purcell said. “But really this spring overall, they are reaching a new level of athlete that wants to win and be coached up by Coach Cig and his staff.”

Purcell, a four-star quarterback in the 2027 class, took his official visit to IU alongside other top recruits and has seen first-hand the change since the Hoosiers won the national title. It’s not just changing the way students feel about the program, but IU has certainly leaned into increased buzz around campus to showcase what the players could potentially be a part of.

Having recruits at the Spring Game is a huge recruiting tool, while showing the No. 1 overall pick on the videoboard is an even bigger one. Indiana was able to display to recruits where Cignetti’s program could lead them – all the while showcasing its fan base.

And it’s a fan base that has dramatically changed since January 19, with no signs of stopping. As the semester winds down, another graduating class departs Indiana University. When the new freshman class steps foot on campus, they will be a part of three classes at IU that have never seen the Hoosiers lose a home game. Only next year’s seniors will have experienced a loss at Memorial Stadium as a student, with younger Hoosiers knowing nothing but success in football.

“But students now come here thinking, I’m gonna go be at a football school,” Clavio explained. “But that’s because they’re seeing the experiences that students are having right now, and they’re like, ‘I want to be a part of that.’”

IU received more than 73,000 applications during the cycle ahead of the 2025-26 school year, a 9% increase over the previous year and a 36% increase over the previous two years, according to the IU Bloomington admissions website.

This was the highest application number on record, resulting in the largest freshman class in Indiana history in the fall of 2025. Numbers haven’t been released for the new freshmen arriving in August, but it’s believed to break the records set in 2025.

It’s not just current students shifting to a more football-minded outlook; those joining the IU community are already more predisposed to believing it’s a football culture. The fabric of the university changes little by little each year because of outgoing and incoming students, but this change, one shaped by Indiana’s historic football success, is extremely significant.

Basketball still matters, but Indiana’s combination of party scene and football success has turned the tables on what athletics used to be at this university. The fall isn’t tailgate season anymore, it’s football season.

And spring can be football season too. Based on what’s happened over the course of the last three months, football is on the mind for Indiana students all year round, no matter the circumstance.

It has seeped its way into Little 500 weekend, into Indiana’s recruiting, and the overall fabric of the Bloomington and IU community. The university doesn’t look the same way it did even a few years ago, and the commitment to football is an integral piece in that.

“I think it just shows the buy-in from the community, the state, the city of Bloomington. Everyone’s bought in on football,” Isaiah Jones said. “It’s not them being a part-time fan.”

By simply observing as students walk by, the difference in campus life might not be clear. As they go to their classes, things appear normal – and it is normal, because the only constant in life is change.

It’s never out of the ordinary for a university to progressively experience differences, but for Indiana, its football team allowed for a remarkable transformation in such a short period of time.

The spring semester may not have brought as much excitement as IU’s 16-game championship run of perfection, but the way the community has responded in the months that followed was possibly even more telling than the buzz drawn from each game.

Football school or not, Indiana University Bloomington has been different since January 19 – and it might never be the same again.

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