karmew32

I honestly haven't paid attention since Allen Graves graduated.

It's brand name bias. If Kentucky had a similar miraculous rise as Indiana, people would still expect a mid Ohio State squad to crush them in the Sugar Bowl.

LIII was the worst. Not playing Sweet Victory will always be the biggest fumble in Super Bowl halftime history.

Neither team is really captivating or polarizing. There's no long drought to root for or supervillain to root against. I also feel like a lot of neutrals are let down that the Patriots successfully rebuilt and got back to the Super Bowl before Allen could get the Bills there.

Another factor is that CFB had the greatest story in its history this season. It's impossible for the NFL to live up to that unless the Super Bowl was something like Lions/Bills. People will talk about that Indiana team for decades; the winner of this year's Super Bowl will already be forgotten by 2030.

They were one play away, several times in fact. If Bishop doesn't fumble, KSU at worst is able to run the clock down to ~15 seconds and A&M has that amount of time to go 80 yards for a TD. They also had a Hail Mary completed at the 1. Bishop ran into his own RB in OT when he had an easy 1st & goal and a probable TD. The Sirr Parker play was designed to just get A&M in range for a more makeable FG.

It was eerily reminiscent of Game 7 of the 2025 World Series. Like KSU, the Jays had multiple times late in the game where they pretty much had it won.

The thing is, at the point of the Beck RTP, the game was basically guaranteed to end in a Miami cover/win unless Indiana got a defensive TD. The flag showed that the powers-that-be weren't content with a Miami cover; they wanted Miami to outright win.

Kentucky. Like Indiana, they're a basketball blue blood. Their success on the basketball recruiting trail and the fact that they're the flagship school of their state shows me they could be successful in football if they put their mind to it.

The fact that Beck got a ticky-tack RTP call during the most decisive drive of the game when the game was guaranteed to end in a Miami cover and after Mendoza was beat up all night long with no flags shows me who the fix was in for.

Safe to say that if Bishop hadn't had the worst fumble in the history of football, Kansas State beats A&M and soundly beats Tennessee for the national championship. They would've been the Indiana of their time. 10-year turnaround vs. 2, but KSU had NOTHING. Their facilities were worse than many high schools. Plus the transfer portal wasn't a thing, but they found a way to acquire talent through the JUCO system.

Which team wins in a head-to-head? My gut tells me KSU is better on paper. Bishop was Cam Newton before Cam Newton, their run defense completely held Ricky Williams in check, Snyder-Cignetti is basically a wash, and the rest of KSU's staff was a CFB brain trust (Venables, Mangino, Mike Stoops). I will say that Mendoza is definitely better in the pocket than Bishop and didn't fumble on the biggest scramble of his career.

I think KSU has a better chance of a blowout but I'd favor Indiana if the game was close.

Agreed. Heisman is a regular season award. If anything, Mendoza's run is an all-time "this is why he won the Heisman" bowl moment.

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'13 Sparty

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Do you think they beat Auburn in a playoff semifinal? Assume it'd be at the Fiesta Bowl (the 2016, 2019, and 2022 semis were the Fiesta/Peach and the committee probably would've given FSU the Peach).