INSTANT REACTION: Indiana Wins National Championship, Miami Clearly 2nd Best Team, NIL Has Transformed College Football
The Colin Cowherd Podcast
iHeartPodcasts and The Volume
4.4 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 20 January 2026
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Colin is joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to react to Indiana beating Miami in the National Championship.
Colin gives props to Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza & calls him the clear #1 pick in the NFL draft, and argues that Miami proved they were the second best team in the country & deserved to be there (2:00).
They agree that Miami has outstanding talent and will be back in the playoff next year (6:00), and Colin argues Curt Cignetti’s coach has Indiana looking like an NFL team (8:45). They predict that a passionate & wealthy IU fanbase will flood the program with money going forward, setting the program up for sustained success (12:30).
They break down Fernando Mendoza’s game & project how he’ll fare in the NFL (18:15), discuss why Miami is set up to dominate the ACC in the coming years (26:15), and Colin argues that traditional SEC powers like Alabama and Georgia will fall further behind in the NIL era due to financial constraints (29:00).
Finally, they agree that NIL & the influx of money has changed college football… and changed it for the better (32:30).
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.)
Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!
#Volume
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:05.4 | The volume. |
| 0:09.4 | Well, we have a new national champion in college football. |
| 0:17.1 | Third straight year, it's a Big Ten team. |
| 0:18.8 | First, it's Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines. |
| 0:20.7 | Last year, it's Ohio State. Pun first it's jim harbaw and the wolverines last year it's |
| 0:21.3 | ohio state punish people in the playoff and that miami and ohio state both were built to potentially |
| 0:28.2 | beat indiana neither could 2721 third straight big 10 champion i i will say i thought it would be a |
| 0:36.7 | little like this a little more scoring than i thought i thought it would be a little like this, a little more scoring than I thought. |
| 0:39.5 | I thought it would be the under. |
| 0:42.1 | But, you know, be cheap, cheap, a little chippy early against Mendoza. |
| 0:46.4 | He got a late hit, and they didn't call it. |
| 0:48.4 | A couple of little late hits, personal fouls not called. |
| 0:53.0 | And, I mean, make Indiana, you know, convert fourth downs and third downs. And they did. That's what Indiana has been doing all year. They did it against Iowa. They did it against Penn State. They did against Ohio State. And they did it against the Miami Hurricanes. I think Mendoza, I mean, if there were any critics or doubters, that he's the number one pick, John. |
| 1:12.2 | I mean, just that quarterback draw for a touchdown took a beating. |
| 1:18.9 | Listen, I think, you know what I think it proves is that Miami not only deserve to be in the college football playoff, but Miami was the second best team. |
| 1:28.6 | I mean, Ohio State's offense couldn't generate, you know, this kind of offensive explosion. I mean, you know, I mean, |
| 1:34.4 | they were driving to put their fourth touchdown up. So, I mean, I think we got the two best teams in |
| 1:40.8 | the country. And by the way, if you're an SEC fan, not only should |
| 1:44.7 | you be terrified of the gap that is widening between the Big Ten and the SEC, Miami has major, |
| 1:51.8 | major NIL money. Broward County is just an unbelievable recruiting hotbed and Cristobal, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts and The Volume, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and The Volume and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.