It was just 7 degrees this morning in Bloomington, with wind chills making the temperature feel well into the negatives; the National Weather Service issued a statement urging residents to stay indoors. Clearly, Hoosier fans didn’t get the memo. No weather was going to prevent them from celebrating the greatest team in Indiana football history.
For Hoosier fans, this was a chance to give back to a team that has given so much to the city of Bloomington and Hoosier Nation as a whole. As the team began “The Walk” into the stadium, they were greeted by Hoosier fans of all ages lining the parking lot. It was clear just how much this meant to the players, as several stopped to thank fans for showing up in the cold.
Once inside the stadium, the festivities began with a show from IU’s Marching Hundred band. The crowd, which impressively rivaled those of the 2023 season given the weather, sang along as the band played ABBA’s “Fernando.”
Indiana President Pamela Whitten was the first speaker of the ceremony, promising Hoosier fans that this would be “just the first National Championship” and that there would be more to follow. President Whitten then introduced John Mellencamp to perform “Hurts So Good,” the song that has become the Hoosiers’ rallying cry throughout the College Football Playoffs. Flanked by the seniors on the team, Mellencamp passed the mic to Omar Cooper Jr., Elijah Sarratt, and Pat Coogan to sing a couple of verses. While these Hoosiers may not have had the best grasp on the lyrics, they certainly made up for it with their enthusiasm.
Longtime broadcaster and “Voice of the Hoosiers” Don Fischer served as the emcee for much of the ceremony, saying that it was “[his] honor to…celebrate a team that has made history for the Indiana Hoosiers football program but has captured the hearts and minds of football fans all across this country.”
Fischer continued by presenting head Coach Curt Cignetti with trophy after trophy, from the Coaches’ Poll to the AP Poll to the Heisman Trophy. After he had received these awards, Cignetti joked, as only he could, “I guess we need a new trophy case.”
The ceremony concluded as so many Hoosier trophy ceremonies have this season, with senior linebacker Aiden Fisher leading the crowd in a rousing round of “Indiana, Our Indiana.” For the Hoosiers fans who braved the weather, the cold “hurt so good” as they celebrated Indiana’s first-ever National Championship.