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Miami, Indiana Advance to CFP Title Game

The College Football Playoff has had its shining and not to shining moments in the second year of the 12-team format.

The two Semifinals games showed us a little bit of both. The action got underway Thursday night with an entertaining game between Miami and Ole MIss that saw seven lead changes in a back-and-forth battle that came down to the final play of the game. The Hurricanes outlasted the Rebels 31-27 to win the Fiesta Bowl and advance to the CFP Championship game a week from next Monday.

Miami got a clutch performance from quarterback Carson Beck, the seventh-year signal caller who spent the first six seasons at Georgia. Beck threw for 268 yards with two long touchdown passes and ran in the game winner with 18 seconds to play.

The next night, things were much more lopsided as top seed Indiana demolished fifth seeded Oregon 56-22. Led by Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza and an opportunistic defense, the Hoosiers led from the start by scoring on the first play of the game on an interception return for a touchdown to set the tone and it was game over from there.

The Hoosiers scored touchdowns on their next four drives building a 42-7 lead and continued to impose their will demonstrating the chip on their shoulder they've had since the arrival of head coach Curt Cignetti last year. Indiana is 26-2 in two seasons under Cignetti and have outscored its two opponents in this season's CFP in Alabama and Oregon by a combined score of 94-25.

It was the second straight year Oregon was humiliated in this playoff round. The Ducks were the #1 seed last season and fell behind 34-0 to Ohio State in a 41-21 loss. The Buckeyes went on to win the CFP title.

Indiana improved to 15-0 record is the favorite to win it all. A school more known for its basketball prowess has turned it around quicker than any other school. Prior to this miraculous run, the Hoosiers hadn't won more than eight games in a season since 1967. Prior to Curt Cignetti taking over last season, Indiana had only three winning seasons the last 30 years. The Hoosiers have had an amazing season being the only undefeated team in the land.

Indiana will now face Miami on its home turf in an oddity as the Championship Game was slated for Hard Rock Stadium several years ago. Despite the home field advantage, Indiana is favored by 7.5. It will be the first time in playoff history that the title contest will be played on one the participants home field. It will be Miami's first trip to a title game since they won it all in 2001 defeating Nebraska 37-14.

No matter who wins, it will be a breath of fresh air with two teams squaring off that not many expected to be here. It will be a wild scene next Monday night in Miami.