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01/20 20:03 CST Hoosiers receive hero's welcome in return to Bloomington as
football national champions
Hoosiers receive hero's welcome in return to Bloomington as football national
champions
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) --- The Indiana Hoosiers were ready to party Tuesday
night, and hundreds of loyal fans joined them when they arrived back on campus
in Bloomington.
Turning out in freezing temperatures and brutally cold wind chills, fans,
players and coaches celebrated college football's implausible national
champions. The heartwarming scene reminded fans how Indiana's journey emulated
the Hollywood version in "Hoosiers."
"Hoo, hoo, hoo, Hoo-siers," fans chanted as six team buses pulled into the
south side of the team's practice facility.
At traditional football powers such as Alabama, Michigan or Ohio State,
mid-January scenes like this can be an expectation. Bloomington is different.
Here, success is measured in banners rather than trophies, and athletes are
expected to pride themselves on playing for the name on the front of their
jerseys. Here, fans embrace tales of the work ethic of players from the small
dots on their state map and pride themselves on the notion that in 49 other
states, basketball is just, well, basketball. In Indiana, it's akin to a
religion.
Coach Curt Cignetti and his football Hoosiers are upending those traditions.
In two seasons, they created a compelling story --- a rags-to-riches tale of
college football's losingest program capturing its first national title.
Indiana beat Miami 27-21 Monday night on the Hurricanes' home field --- the
pro-Hoosiers crowd made it feel like a game in Bloomington --- and sealed the
milestone with an interception by the nephew of a former Miami player.
How inspirational was this season?
"I am a Purdue graduate but I have worked at IU for almost 20 years, and I told
my colleagues today this is the first year ever I rooted for IU," Leah Mullins
said, referring to Indiana's biggest rival. "I had to pull myself away from the
Boilermakers because this season has just been so inspiring and so exciting and
there's just like, such a camaraderie within the community."
That sentiment was on full display Tuesday night.
Whether it was people dressed in Indiana's trademark crimson-and-cream
candy-striped pants, IU window flags fluttering in the breezy air or the
Hoosiers victory flag waving high above the stadium with the sun setting behind
it, the excitement was evident.
On the main street leading to the stadium, somebody added the words "national
champ" to a display of wooden cutouts that has steadily grown with each win
this season. The Hoosiers became the first team since the 1890s to finish 16-0.
There were long lines to purchase national championship gear at a local
sporting goods store earlier Tuesday and when word came that the team had
landed at Indianapolis International Airport, about an hour's drive northwest
of Bloomington, the parking lots started filling up.
But this is so new to Indiana, many fans were in the wrong location to catch a
glimpse of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, defensive leader Aiden
Fisher, Cignetti or the trophy. So they ran to their cars, followed the blaring
sirens from the police escort and pulled in behind the buses.
"I haven't seen Bloomington so connected and so ecstatic over anything in like
a long time," said Anika Drichel, a native of the college town of 85,000. "It's
so exciting."
Some became believers when Cignetti won a school-record 11 games in 2024, with
the only losses coming at eventual national champion Ohio State and eventual
runner-up Notre Dame. Others hopped on board as Cignetti's team beat then-No. 3
Oregon on the road in October or after the Hoosiers captured their first
outright Big Ten title since 1945 by beating the Buckeyes. Others held out
until the clock ran out on Monday night.
Those who didn't get their chance to celebrate Tuesday will have other
opportunities. Mendoza was scheduled to do an autograph session at a sporting
goods store on Wednesday morning. The trophy will be on display at a grocery
store on Wednesday and a Wal-Mart on Thursday.
An official celebration was scheduled for Saturday afternoon at Memorial
Stadium. Some just couldn't wait that long.
"When it started getting really good I was like, ?Well, you know maybe I should
(get on board), this is really great," Mullins said. "And Fernando is such a
great kid, I mean all of them. They're all such good guys, it's almost like,
How can you not support these guys?"
___
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