Three wins to a national title.

Every game from here out is the biggest in IU football history.

In a national quarterfinal matchup, the No. 1 Hoosiers (13-0) will face No. 9 Alabama (11-3) on Thursday, Jan. 1 at 4 p.m. ET at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. (ESPN).  The game marks the first ever meeting of these programs.

Indiana and Alabama could not have more different histories.

Alabama claims 18 national titles and 30 conference championships, while IU has never won a national title and can claim just three league titles.  Alabama has the third-most wins in college football history, while the Hoosiers have the second-most losses.

But while the game is a historical mismatch, Indiana will take the field as the favorite.

Most sports books have IU as a 6.5 to 7-point favorite over the Crimson Tide in The Rose Bowl.

In the analytical models, ESPN’s Football Power Index gives No. 1 Indiana a 71.4% chance to beat No. 8 Alabama.  ESPN’s SP+ likes No. 2 Indiana over No. 15 Alabama by 13.1 points.

Alabama played five games against teams currently ranked in the CFP Top-25:  Two games against Georgia and Oklahoma, and a game against Vanderbilt.  The Tide went 3-2 in those games.

FPI says Alabama played the sixth-hardest schedule this season, while IU played the 28th most difficult.  Meanwhile IU has the No. 1 strength of record, and Alabama No. 10.

The lone common opponent for Indiana and Alabama is Wisconsin, a team both the Hoosiers and Crimson Tide beat on their respective home fields by 24 points.

Alabama is led by head coach Kalen DeBoer, who is in his second season in charge in Tuscaloosa.  DeBoer is 20-7 in his two seasons at Alabama, and 124-19 overall as a head coach.  He and former IU quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. led Washington to the national championship game in 2023.

DeBoer is one of several members of the Alabama coaching staff who were once coaches at Indiana.

DeBoer was the IU offensive coordinator in 2019.  Crimson Tide quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan was at IU from 2017-2021 and was offensive coordinator the last two years.  Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack was at IU from 2018-2020 and defensive coordinator the last two years.  Defensive backs coach Jason Jones was the IU safeties coach from 2020-2022.  And strength coach David Ballou is an IU alumnus and was the IU strength coach from 2018-2020.

Alabama is No. 39 nationally in scoring offense, putting up 31.4 points per contest.  Indiana is the nation’s No. 2 scoring defense at 10.8 points allowed per game.

The Crimson Tide are No. 13 in scoring defense, allowing just 17.9 an outing.  IU is No. 4 in scoring offense at 41.9 points per contest.  The most points scored by any team against Alabama this season was 31 by Florida State in a season-opening loss.

6-foot-2 junior quarterback Ty Simpson has completed 64.1 % of his throws for 3,500 yards, with 28 touchdowns and just five interceptions.  Including sacks, he has rushed for just 76 yards and two touchdowns this season.

PFF grades Alabama as having the No. 31 offense, the No. 14 defense, and the No. 22 special teams in the country.

The weather shouldn’t be a factor in this game.  Rain is rare in Southern California this time of year, and the temperature should be pleasant.  The current long-term forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and a high of 67 degrees.  We’ll check back on this as the game gets closer.

We will of course have much more on this game in the days to come.

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Related

In the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff, the No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers (13-0) will play the No. 10 Alabama Crimson Tide (11-3) in the Rose Bowl, starting at 4 p.m. ET in Pasadena, California. Indiana is favored by 7 points.

Learn how to get tickets to the Hoosiers vs. Crimson Tide matchup.

Shop Alabama football tickets at StubHub

Indiana vs. Alabama tickets for sale

Indiana vs. Alabama location, livestream, TV channel

• When: Thursday, January 1, 2026 at 4 p.m. ET
• Location: Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California
• TV: ESPN
• Live stream: Watch LIVE with Fubo! (Regional restrictions may apply)

Indiana leaders

• Fernando Mendoza has 2,980 yards through the air (229.2 per game) and a 71.5% completion percentage (226-for-316), pitching 33 touchdown passes and six interceptions. He also has 240 rushing yards on 69 carries (with six touchdowns).
• Roman Hemby has run for a team-high 918 yards (70.6 per game) and tallied six touchdowns.
• So far this season Kaelon Black has rushed for 798 yards (61.4 per game), with seven touchdowns.
• Omar Cooper Jr. has grabbed 59 passes for a team-high 828 yards plus 11 touchdowns. He averages 63.7 receiving yards per game.
• Elijah Sarratt has been targeted 73 times and added 663 yards (on 50 catches) plus 12 touchdowns.
• Charlie Becker has caught 26 passes on 35 targets for 515 yards and two touchdowns.

The Alabama Crimson Tide are headed back to the Rose Bowl for the College Football Playoff.

One hundred years after Alabama football’s first appearance in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1926, the Tide will face No. 1 Indiana (13-0) in the CFP quarterfinals in Pasadena on New Year’s Day.

Alabama (11-3) rallied from a 17-0 first-half deficit to win its first-round playoff game, 34-24, against the Oklahoma Sooners (10-3) Friday night at Memorial Stadium in Norman.

Ty Simpson threw two touchdown passes to freshman receiver Lotzeir Brooks, cornerback Zabien Brown had a 50-yard interception return for touchdown, and Daniel Hill capped the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown run as the Tide closed the game by out-scoring Oklahoma 34-7 over the final 36:52.

Conor Talty added two clutch field goals in Alabama’s win, its 10th victory overall in the College Football Playoff since 2014, and its first since the Crimson Tide defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats, 27-6, in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve 2021.

After Alabama’s rally, Tide players did some celebrating on the Sooners’ field.

Alabama football celebrates on Sooners’ home field after CFP win over Oklahoma

More Alabama football photos from thrilling CFP win over Oklahoma

Alabama football schedule 2025

• Aug. 30: at Florida State (L, 31-17)
• Sept. 6: vs. UL Monroe (W, 73-0)
• Sept. 13: vs. Wisconsin (W, 38-14)
• Sept. 27: at Georgia (W, 24-21)
• Oct. 4: vs. Vanderbilt (W, 30-14)
• Oct. 11: at Missouri (W, 27-24)
• Oct. 18: vs. Tennessee (W, 37-20)
• Oct. 25: at South Carolina (W, 29-22)
• Nov. 8: vs. LSU (W, 20-9)
• Nov. 15: vs. Oklahoma (L, 23-21)
• Nov. 22 vs. Eastern Illinois (W, 56-0)
• Nov. 29: at Auburn (W, 27-20)
• Dec. 6: vs. Georgia (L, 28-7)
• Dec. 19: at Oklahoma (W, 34-24)
• Jan. 1: vs. Indiana (CFP quarterfinals, Rose Bowl)

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