Skull Session: From Lee Corso’s Retirement to Elsa Mendoza’s Letter, Indiana’s Championship Felt Like Destiny; Paul Finebaum Must Leave the U.S. After a Third Straight Big Ten National Title

By Chase Brown on January 21, 2026 at 5:00 am
Curt Cignetti hugs his family
Grace Hollars/IndyStar
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

Ohio State men's basketball secured another win on Tuesday.

Michigan is up next!

Have a good Wednesday

 KINGS OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL. The Indiana Hoosiers are national champions — 16-0 national champions.

It still feels surreal.

Once the losingest program in college football history (they’re now the second-losingest, narrowly ahead of Northwestern), Indiana accomplished what once seemed impossible behind National Coach of the Year Curt Cignetti, Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza and a roster packed with detail-oriented, relentlessly motivated players.

Looking back on the 2025 season, maybe the signs were there all along. Cignetti didn’t just reload Indiana’s 2024 CFP team; he transformed it, bringing in 23 transfers, including Mendoza (3,811 total yards and 48 total touchdowns in 2025), running back Roman Hemby (1,120 yards and seven touchdowns) and defensive end Stephen Daley (19 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks). Add in the mounting storylines and belief surrounding the program, and Indiana rode a tidal wave of emotional momentum straight to the top of college football.

The first of those storylines didn’t even involve Indiana directly, but rather Ohio State and Texas. ESPN’s College GameDay opened the season in Columbus for a preseason No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown — a game that also marked Lee Corso’s final appearance on the program. Corso’s farewell season on the kickoff show began with his first love coming out on top, and it ended with his second doing the same, as the school he coached for a decade ultimately won it all.

The second storyline was Elsa Mendoza’s letter to Fernando in The Players’ Tribune. When her beautiful message was published ahead of Ohio State’s matchup with Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game, I texted a few buddies, “The Buckeyes might be battling the Hoosiers and God in Indianapolis.” Whether Yahweh concerns Himself with the outcome of college football games, I don’t know. Indiana won anyway. It took a gutsy performance from Mendoza, who bounced back after Caden Curry seemingly broke every bone in his body to lead the Hoosiers to a 13–10 victory.

The third storyline was the national championship game being played in Miami. What should have been a built-in advantage for the Hurricanes — who quite literally play their home games at Hard Rock Stadium — proved meaningless as Indiana fans flooded the venue and rallied behind their team. A Miami native, Mendoza had extra motivation against his hometown school, which didn’t even offer him a preferred walk-on spot as a two-star recruit out of high school.

There were plenty more storylines, too. Indiana went all in on Curt Cignetti with a new eight-year, $93 million contract. Fernando Mendoza authored his Heisman Moment at Penn State. Charlie Becker emerged as a premier pass-catching threat when Elijah Sarratt missed time with an injury. And the Hoosiers managed to retain both of their elite coordinators throughout their CFP run.

Taken together, Indiana’s season became a perfect storm that had been brewing since Dec. 20, 2024, when the Hoosiers fell to Notre Dame in South Bend.

Indiana was a great story this season — one of the best in all of sports. But now it’s back to regularly scheduled programming. Ohio State travels to Bloomington on Oct. 17 for a Big Ten title game rematch against the defending national champions, and it’s time for the Buckeyes to reclaim their throne — in the conference and in the College Football Playoff.

 SO LONG, FAREWELL. The Big Ten has now won three straight national championships: Michigan in 2023*, Ohio State in 2024 and Indiana in 2025. The second title is obviously the most meaningful around these parts, but the third could come close — because it means ESPN’s Paul Finebaum must leave the United States!

There’s a 0% chance Finebaum follows through on his ridiculous claim, but I have had fun imagining him hosting his SEC radio show in Canada, Mexico or another continent. You think people like Phyllis would still call in and share their two cents about Alabama?

Oh, and check this out. Curt Cignetti's daughter took Finebaum to the woodshed on Tuesday, too.

Get him, Natalie!

 COLUMBUS LOVES COLLEGE FOOTBALL. Columbus is a college football town.

According to Nielsen, Columbus ranked No. 2 nationally in college football viewership during the 2025 season, trailing only Birmingham, Alabama.

Nielsen ranks TV markets by “household rating,” a measure of the percentage of TV households in a given market watching a given program. In this case, Nielsen measured the percentage of TV households watching college football during the week (MACtion!) and on Saturdays.

 HEY, ROOKIE! Former Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson and wide receiver Emeka Egbuka have been named to the Pro Football Writers Association’s All-Rookie Team for 2025.

Henderson, part of a running back committee for the New England Patriots, carried the ball 180 times for 911 yards (5.1 yards per attempt) and nine touchdowns. He also caught 35 passes (on 42 targets) for 221 yards and one score. His season continues Sunday against the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game as the Patriots aim to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since 2018.

Egbuka thrived in a crowded Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiving room featuring Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan. While injuries impacted those players in 2025, Egbuka appeared in all 17 games, catching 63 passes (on 127 targets) for 938 yards and six touchdowns. He was an early favorite for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, though his production tapered off late in the season, leaving the award open for Carolina Panthers wideout Tetairoa McMillan.

Several other Buckeyes had strong performances as rookies in 2025. In Dan Hope and Matt Gutridge’s weekly article, Across the Shield, which recaps former Ohio State players’ performances in the NFL, five rookies won eight of their Pro Buck of the Week awards: Henderson (thrice), Egbuka (twice), Quinshon Judkins, Denzel Burke and Lathan Ransom. That’s impressive!

 NEW DUBCAST. Today's Eleven Dubcast welcomes back Kyle Jones to help briefly recap the National Championship game that crowned Indiana over Miami, cut the Ohio State offensive line some slack for how the Buckeyes' season ended given the matchup and explore optimism in returning starters for next year.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Cissy Strut" - The Meters.

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