(Editor’s note: Indiana University is competing for its first-ever NCAA Div. 1 football national championship on Monday night against the University of Miami. Palmer Randall, of North Andover, a two-time IU grad (undergrad, 2024; Masters, 2025), talks about passion for his school and football program.)
When I graduated from St. John’s Prep, a relatively small all-boys Catholic school, I knew my life was about to do a complete 180 for college.
Midwest, Big Ten, elite business school—none of it was on my radar a few years before, but when I landed at Indiana University, the last school I visited, it felt right. Also, the fact that the Kelley Business School was one of the best business schools … everything clicked.
Basketball was always the draw at IU. The state’s and school’s history compares favorably with any other when it comes to basketball, maybe even at the top.
Even in 2020, my freshman year—a year defined by empty stands and COVID restrictions—basketball was the big thing in Bloomington, Ind.
That year I remember IU football pulling off a big overtime win over Penn State (36-35) at home, without fans. It was a little surreal. That team went 6-1 and lost a bowl game, which sounds great now, but at the time, nobody really believed it was the start of something new.
The next three years were more like what I’d been told to expect. IU football was, frankly, terrible. Two wins, three wins, maybe four if you squinted. Nobody went to the games.
Back then you had to buy a football season-ticket bundle if you wanted to get season tickets for basketball. I love football and I went to every home game, maybe out of habit or maybe out of delusion. It never really felt like we were building toward anything.
IU always had great tailgates, but not many of those people actually went to the games.
Then came last year, which was my fifth year, earning a masters degree in financial analysis and accounting.
Everything changed when Curt Cignetti was hired before the 2024 season.
I was at the IU basketball game with Purdue when Coach Cignetti grabbed a microphone and spoke to the fans, “Purdue sucks! … So does Michigan and Ohio State!” The place went crazy. I remembered thinking, “OK, I love it, but let’s pump the brakes a bit.’”
IU won its first four games, which was not as big of a deal because three of those were against lesser teams. Let’s wait until the Big Ten schedule begins.
But the winning didn’t stop. We beat Maryland, Northwestern and killed Nebraska (56-7). Then we beat Washington and embarrassed Michigan State (47-10) before the two really big ones, Michigan and Ohio State.
We beat Michigan at home in a great game (20-15) and were undefeated playing undefeated eventual national champion Ohio State in Columbus, both 10-0.
IU lost, pretty big, but reality set in. Our schedule was weak. But it was OK because we were still in the playoff hunt.
We ended up losing to Notre Dame in the playoffs, and that stung, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. There was this sense among all of us from IU that maybe, just maybe, something is actually happening here.
Fast forward to this fall and all of us knew that football was important and we had big hopes for 2025.
People actually wanted to be at football games. Alumni who hadn’t cared in years were watching again. Mark Cuban donated money to the team for their NIL program. The transfer portal started to work in our favor. It felt like all the pieces were coming together.
We get the quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, who transferred from Cal-Berkley. We all had read about Coach Cignetti’s track record with quarterbacks. Rather than transferring, some of our other key players were staying, like wide receiver Elijah Sarrat. It was crazy how everything was coming together. Now we had to play the games.
IU won its three pre-Big Ten games against second-rate teams as expected, setting up the first Big Ten game against No. 10 Illinois. That was going to tell us a lot. We won 63-10.
Then Iowa, always a tough team for us. Then Oregon, the first top five-ranked team we beat … ever! Every team we faced this fall was a new test and they passed them all. The Penn State comeback was crazy. We didn’t play well. But we made the plays at the end, so unlike IU from previous years, and won in State College, Pa.
A few days before the Big Ten Championship game with No. 1 Ohio State — IU was No. 2 — guys I had graduated with were on a text and we decided we had to be there in Indianapolis. I think I got my plane reservations the day before. One other part was the men’s basketball team was playing Louisville at noon in Indianapolis where the Pacers play.
The basketball game stunk. We got killed. But the football game, beating Ohio State, made it all worth it. We were in heaven that weekend.
Honestly, the playoffs have not been surprising. But beating Alabama and Oregon, really crushing them the way we did tells you about this 2025. There’s no luck. They are really really.
As an alum, whose only been out of school for eight months, I can only imagine what people who graduated 30, 40 and 50 years are feeling.
There are not a lot of IU alums in our area which means no “watch parties.” Instead I watch every game at home. My parents and my brother (Davis) have jumped on the bandwagon lately.
On Monday night I will watch the game at home, wearing candy striper pants and my “Hoosiers” T-shirt. I haven’t missed one snap this year. It’s crazy; I wake up the morning of every game excited, trying to kill time before the game starts.
Miami is a very good team. I am nervous. But I’m a good nervous. Coach Cignetti has changed everyone’s mentality, especially mine. I think Indiana is going to win because they are the better team.