GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Mario Cristobal returned to South Florida to find his alma mater in disarray.
A national powerhouse during Cristobal's playing days, Miami had slipped out of prominence for the better part of 20 years, a handful of losing seasons sprinkled with mid-level bowl appearances.
Cristobal's goal when he was hired was to recreate a winning culture, put the Hurricanes in the mix for national championships again. Four years later, the Hurricanes will play for their first national championship since 2001 — in their home stadium, no less.
“It’s a reflection of our players and their DNA and the way that they’re wired, how they came into the program and how they’ve continued to develop and evolve,” Cristobal said after Miami's 31-27 win over Mississippi in the Fiesta Bowl Thursday night. “It almost seems like the tougher it gets, the better we play. And it’s a testament to them, to their resilience and their will.”
One of Cristobal's first steps after being lured away from Oregon in 2021 was to make Miami again a destination for top recruits and transfers, something he had done with the Ducks. The former offensive lineman who won two national championships with the Hurricanes also wanted to re-instill a winning culture, adding physicality and discipline to the program.
Miami has been on a steady climb since Cristobal's hiring, increasing its win total every year until this season’s 13 wins — and counting.
With the win over Ole Miss at the Fiesta Bowl, the Hurricanes will be the first team in the BCS/CFP era (since 1998) to play a national championship in their home stadium. Miami will face top-ranked Indiana or No. 5 Oregon in the Jan. 19 title game.
“What an unbelievable year,” Miami quarterback Carson Beck said. “It was never easy. It was never perfect. There were a lot of ups and downs. There was a lot of adversity that not only I faced individually, but that we faced as a team. We really banded together and showed that we believe in connection, that we just don’t fake it.”
Beck has been a big part of Miami's run from No. 10 College Football Playoff seed to the national championship game.
The sixth-year quarterback started his career at Georgia, winning a national championship as a backup before two highly-productive seasons as a starter. After a knee injury knocked him out of the playoffs last season, he looked at declaring for the NFL before opting to play at Miami.
The Hurricanes are sure glad he did.
Beck was instrumental in the Hurricanes earning an at-large CFP bid and played a huge role in their Fiesta Bowl. He threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns with an interception — on a tipped pass — and orchestrated the game-winning drive behind Miami's massive offensive line after Ole Miss took the lead with three minutes left.
Beck took it in himself for the winning score, scrambling to the right for a 3-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds left. He's 36-5 as a starter.
“He’s hungry, he’s driven, he’s a great human being, and all he wants to do is to see his teammates have success,” Cristobal said. “And that’s what we witnessed tonight.”
Miami's defense certainly has played its part.
The Hurricanes were middle of the FBS pack defensively last season, but took huge strides under first-year coordinator Corey Hetherman. Miami allowed the fewest points per game since the 2001 national championship team — fourth nationally — and was 11th in the FBS in total yards allowed.
The Hurricanes gave up 398 yards in the Fiesta Bowl, but forced Ole Miss to kick five field goals — four makes — and made one last stand in the closing seconds after the Rebels reached Miami's 35.
“It’s the simplicity of these guys,” Cristobal said. "They know exactly who they are, and they know what it took to get us to this point and they were not settling for getting to this point just to get here. They weren’t going to let anything get in the way."
Now the Hurricanes are headed back to Miami after playing five straight games away from home, one last hurdle in their way on the path to a national title.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Miami safety Zechariah Poyser (7) and defensive back Ethan O'Connor (24) break up a pass intended for Mississippi wide receiver De'zhaun Stribling (1) during the second half the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal game, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Miami head coach Mario Cristobal yells from the sideline during the second half of the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal game against Mississippi, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Green Bay (9-7-1) at Chicago (11-6)
Saturday, 8 p.m. EST, Amazon Prime Video.
BetMGM NFL odds: Packers by 1.
Against the spread: Packers 6-10-1; Bears 9-7-1.
Series record: Packers lead 109-97-6.
Last meeting: Bears beat Packers 22-16 in OT at Chicago on Dec. 20
Last week: Packers lost at Minnesota 16-3; Bears lost to Detroit 19-16.
Packers offense: overall (15), rush (15), pass (17), scoring (16)
Packers defense: overall (12), rush (18), pass (11), scoring (11)
Bears offense: overall (6), rush (3), pass (10), scoring (9)
Bears defense: overall (29), overall (27), pass (22), scoring (23)
Turnover differential: Packers plus-1; Bears plus-22.
QB Jordan Love: He hasn’t played in a game since a helmet-to-helmet hit from Chicago’s Austin Booker in the second quarter of the Dec. 20 Packers-Bears game sent him into concussion protocol. Love was cleared before Green Bay’s regular-season finale, but the Packers opted to rest him for the playoffs. Love has nine touchdown passes and only two interceptions in six games against the Bears.
QB Caleb Williams. The Bears envisioned deep playoff runs on a regular basis when they drafted Williams with the No. 1 overall pick last year. They hope this is just the start. Williams threw for a franchise-record 3,942 yards with 27 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. Though his completion percentage ranked last among qualifying leaders, he became more and more comfortable in coach Ben Johnson's system.
Chicago's running backs against Green Bay's defensive line. Though the Bears' run game emerged as one of the best this season behind a retooled line, it was hard to tell against Detroit. Chicago managed just 65 yards rushing, with D'Andre Swift held to 40 yards on 10 attempts and rookie Kyle Monangai finishing with 14 yards on six carries. With Swift running for 1,087 yards and Monangai adding 783, the Bears were the only team with two 750-yard rushers. Green Bay struggled to stop the run in recent weeks, with Devonte Wyatt (ankle) and then Micah Parsons (knee) suffering season-ending injuries. The Packers gave up 150 yards rushing to the Bears in their most recent meeting and then allowed Derrick Henry to run for 216 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-24 loss to Baltimore.
Packers: WR/CB Bo Melton (knee), CB Kamal Hadden (ankle), CB Nate Hobbs (knee), DL Jordon Riley (Achilles tendon) and S Zayne Anderson (ankle) have gone on injured reserve since the most recent Packers-Bears game. ... WR Dontayvion Wicks (concussion) has been ruled out for Saturday's game. ... OT Zach Tom (knee) missed the Packers’ last three regular-season games and is questionable for Saturday. Also questionable are DL Warren Brinson (foot), S Javon Bullard (knee), LB Nick Niemann (pectoral) and backup QB Malik Willis (shoulder/hamstring).
Bears: WR Rome Odunze (foot) expects to play after missing the final five regular-season games. ... CB Kyler Gordon (groin) is questionable as he attempts to return after being sidelined since Week 13. He has been limited to three games because of hamstring and groin injuries. ... CB C.J. Gardner-Johnson, LB Amen Ogbongbemiga and DL Joe Tryon-Shoyinka have been ruled out because of concussions. ... OL Braxton Jones (knee) is questionable.
The Packers are 30-7 against the Bears counting the playoffs since the start of the 2008 season, with the past four games coming down to the wire. In 2024, both came down to field-goal attempts by Chicago's Cairo Santos on the final play — one that got blocked and one that was successful. This season, Green Bay hung on to win 28-21 in Week 14 at Lambeau Field when Keisean Nixon intercepted Williams in the end zone with 22 seconds remaining. Chicago returned the favor two weeks later, rallying from 10 down in the final two minutes of regulation before Williams threw a 46-yard touchdown to DJ Moore in overtime. This is the third playoff game between the longtime rivals — all in Chicago. The Bears won a Western Division playoff game over the Packers 33-14 at Wrigley Field on Dec. 14, 1941. The Packers beat the Bears 21-14 in an NFC championship game at Soldier Field on Jan. 23, 2011.
The Packers have the NFC’s No. 7 playoff seed for the third straight year. They reached the divisional round in 2023 and lost 22-10 at Philadelphia in the wild-card round last season. … The Packers dropped their final four regular-season games. … They’re the fourth team to enter the playoffs after losing at least four straight games to end the regular season. The others were the 1986 New York Jets, 1999 Detroit Lions and 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers. The only team in that group to win a playoff game was the 1986 Jets, who beat Kansas City in the wild-card round before losing to Cleveland in overtime in the divisional round. … Packers DL Rashan Gary had 7 ½ sacks in Green Bay’s first seven games but doesn’t have any since. … Packers RB Josh Jacobs had 13 touchdown runs this season, putting him in a tie for fourth place in the league. Jacobs didn’t play against the Vikings and had just 39 yards rushing on 16 carries over his final two regular-season games as he dealt with a knee issue. … The Bears won the NFC North for the first time since 2018 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2020. They have lost three straight postseason games since the 2010 team beat Seattle in a divisional game at Soldier Field. ... The Bears dropped their final two regular-season games, losing to Detroit on a last-second field goal after coming up short in a 42-38 shootout at San Francisco. They gave up 433 yards against the Lions after the 49ers went off for 496. ... If Chicago beats Green Bay, Ben Johnson would become the franchise's first coach to win a playoff game in their first season. ... The Bears led the league in interceptions (23), takeaways (33) and turnover differential (plus-22) while committing a league-low 11 turnovers. ... Chicago won six games after trailing in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter. ... With seven interceptions, S Kevin Byard led the league for the second time in his 10 seasons.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) runs from Detroit Lions linebacker al-Quadin Muhammad (96) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
