By Adrian Beecher | SkyBoat.org
For the first time in more than half a century, Indiana is back in Pasadena. The Rose Bowl. The Granddaddy of Them All. The postcard stage of college football history.
But make no mistake. This is not about flowers, sunsets, or nostalgia.
This is survival.
Top-seeded Indiana at 13 and 0 arrives at the Rose Bowl not as a feel-good story, but as the final undefeated team standing. Across the field stands No. 9 Alabama, battle-tested, scarred, and dangerous. A program that treats January football as its natural habitat.
Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET on Jan. 1 on ESPN. One team advances. One season ends.
And both head coaches made it clear this week. The name on the bowl does not change the stakes.
“This is a playoff game,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said. “We are playing to advance.”
Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer echoed the sentiment.
“You respect the Rose Bowl,” DeBoer said. “But it is win or go home.”
That is the truth. Everything else is noise.
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Built, Not Borrowed
Indiana did not arrive here by accident, and it did not arrive here riding someone else’s blueprint.
Cignetti has spent decades refining how he evaluates players, builds rosters, and constructs teams capable of sustaining success. From programs with limited resources to time spent observing Nick Saban’s machine in Tuscaloosa, the lessons accumulated slowly, then all at once.
“You get better the more you evaluate,” Cignetti said. “Repetition teaches you.”
For Cignetti, the checklist is clear. Toughness. Positional standards. Mobility and explosiveness. Hips, knees, ankles. No shortcuts.
“This is a start-stop game,” he said. “You have to change direction. You have to create power.”
Indiana’s undefeated run is the product of that philosophy, layered, intentional, and unapologetically physical.
And that same precision has carried into playoff preparation, even as both programs navigated scheduling oddities and long layoffs.
“It is what it is,” Cignetti said. “We both had to deal with it.”
No excuses. No delays. Just execution.
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Alabama, Familiar Territory
For Alabama, the Rose Bowl is not unfamiliar ground, but this version of the Crimson Tide took a longer road to get here.
DeBoer said the first practice in Pasadena was not perfect, but it was telling.
“There was good energy,” he said. “That is what matters early.”
The Tide’s focus has narrowed to the details. Recovery, nutrition, timing, precision. DeBoer emphasized that the final 48 hours before kickoff are where playoff games are truly decided.
“Those 48 hours matter,” he said.
Alabama knows this terrain. It has lived here.
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How Indiana Earned the No. 1 Seed
Indiana did not just go undefeated. It erased doubt along the way.
The Hoosiers dismantled then No. 9 Illinois 63 to 10. They outlasted then No. 3 Oregon 30 to 20. And in the Big Ten Championship Game, they delivered a statement heard across the sport, knocking off then No. 1 Ohio State 13 to 10 in a defensive grind that sealed the top seed.
That win earned Indiana a first-round bye and time. Time to heal. Time to prepare. Time to sharpen the edge.
No one handed Indiana this spot. They took it.
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Alabama’s Road Back
Alabama’s season was anything but smooth.
A season-opening loss to Florida State raised questions. Eight straight wins answered some of them, including victories over Georgia, Vanderbilt, Missouri, and Tennessee. A late stumble against Oklahoma and a loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship forced Alabama into the playoff opening round.
And then came the rematch.
In Norman, Alabama fell behind early, then flipped the game entirely, storming back to defeat Oklahoma 34 to 24 and become the first road team to win a College Football Playoff game in the new 12 team format.
That win did not make Alabama comfortable.
It made them dangerous.
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Quarterbacks at the Center
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza has authored the most decorated season in program history. The Heisman Trophy winner has thrown for 2,980 yards and 33 touchdowns while adding six more scores with his legs. He has been poised, ruthless, and efficient. Exactly what playoff football demands.
Across from him is Alabama’s Ty Simpson, the SEC’s leading passer. Simpson has delivered 3,500 yards and 28 touchdowns, steadying Alabama through chaos and guiding the Tide into January with confidence.
This game will not be about flash.
It will be about control.
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The Supporting Cast
Alabama leans on Jam Miller in the backfield and Germie Bernard through the air. Indiana counters with a relentless rushing duo in Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black. The Hoosiers’ receiving corps, led by Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt, has punished defenses all season.
Both teams are deep. Both are physical. Both believe.
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Final Word
The Rose Bowl’s legacy will always matter. Just not on Jan. 1 at kickoff.
When the ball goes in the air, history stops. Everything narrows to one question.
Who survives?
Curt Cignetti said it best.
“This is a playoff game.”
Only one team walks out of Pasadena still alive.
History can wait.
