Inside the Numbers: How Indiana and Miami stack up going into CFP national championship game

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza originally planned on going to Yale, which pulled out all the stops during his recruiting visit five years ago.

Among the ploys the Bulldogs used that day: a nod to their history, including how Larry Kelly and Clint Frank won the Heisman Trophy for Yale in 1936 and 1937, respectively. Mendoza won the Heisman this season.

Mendoza and Yale's history are now colliding again.

Yale is the only major college football team to finish a season 16-0, pulling that off in 1894. Indiana can do the same if it wins the College Football Playoff national championship on Jan. 19 against Miami — Mendoza's hometown team.

Other teams have gone 16-0, albeit not at the highest level of college football.

North Dakota State did it on the way to the FCS national championship in 2019, and Ferris State did it this season to win the Division II national title. Montana State had a shot at 16-0 last season at the FCS level — but lost the national championship game to North Dakota State.

A look at some key stats surrounding Indiana and Miami:

1 and 3 — The number of fumbles lost by these teams; one for Indiana, three for Miami. Indiana is one of only two teams with one lost fumble this season (UConn is the other) and the Hurricanes are tied for seventh best nationally.

237 and 236 — An odd coincidence. Indiana has outscored teams by 237 points in the first half of games this season (second best nationally behind Texas Tech's 256). The Hoosiers have outscored teams by 236 points in the second half; that's No. 1 nationally.

47 and 45 — Miami leads the nation with 47 quarterback sacks this season. Indiana is tied with Oklahoma for second with 45.

25 — Miami has averaged 33:42 of time of possession this season. Indiana is a mere 25 seconds less, 33:17. Both teams rank in the top six nationally.

No team has ever finished a season 8-0 against AP-ranked opponents. Miami has a chance to change that.

The Hurricanes have beaten seven ranked teams this season (rankings at time of game): No. 6 Notre Dame 27-24, No. 18 South Florida 49-12, No. 18 Florida State 28-22, No. 24 Pitt 38-7, No. 7 Texas A&M 10-3, No. 3 Ohio State 24-14 and No. 6 Mississippi 31-27.

Indiana enters the title game ranked No. 1.

Thanks to the advent of a playoff, the season is longer now than what the norm was in college football for decades, so there are more opportunities to play games — and at this time of year, games against ranked teams.

But only three teams have finished with at least eight wins in a season over AP-ranked teams: Alabama went 9-1 in 2016, Alabama went 8-1 in 2015 and LSU went 8-1 in 2011.

Miami could be the third team to beat six top-10 teams in a season: LSU went 7-0 against teams ranked 10th or higher in 2019 and Ohio State went 6-1 in such games last season.

And Miami also has a chance for a 10th win all-time over a No. 1 team. The Hurricanes are 9-10 in such games; only Alabama (12-7) has more wins all-time over an AP No. 1.

Fernando Mendoza has played 15 games at Indiana. He already is up to sixth on the Hoosiers’ career passing touchdown list.

Mendoza has thrown for 41 TDs this season, one behind Antwaan Randle El and Peyton Ramsey — tied for fourth with 42 in their years as Hoosiers. Ben Chappell is third with 45, Kellen Lewis second with 48 and Nate Sudfeld the all-time Indiana leader with 61.

The most by any Indiana quarterback in a single season, before now, was 29 by Kurtis Rourke last year.

Among the Indiana quarterbacks with more than 300 passing attempts, Mendoza is the all-time leader in completion percentage at 73.0%. He’d have to misfire on his first 19 passes against Miami to see that percentage fall below Rourke’s 69.4% clip.

Miami's Malachi Toney is one catch away from being the first Hurricanes receiver to reach 100 grabs in a season. The previous school single-season mark was 85 by Xavier Restrepo in 2023.

A reminder: Toney was 17 when this season started and should be in his senior year of high school.

Toney is fourth nationally in catches this season, behind California's Jacob De Jesus (108), Florida Atlantic's Easton Messer (104) and UConn's Skyler Bell (101).

The winner of the Indiana-Miami game likely will finish the season No. 1 in the final AP Top 25.

The Hoosiers were No. 1 in the most recent poll, taken at the start of the postseason. That is their only appearance at No. 1 in the AP rankings.

Miami has been No. 1 in 68 different AP polls but hasn’t been there since the final poll of the 2002 regular season.

It’s likely no surprise that there is a major discrepancy in the history of the two programs, including:

— Miami has been ranked 551 times to Indiana’s 95.

— Miami has been in the top 5 on 213 occasions to Indiana’s 18.

— The Hoosiers’ current run of 28 consecutive poll appearances is, by far, the longest in Indiana history; there was an 11-poll run overlapping the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Miami’s current run of 33 consecutive poll appearances is the third-longest stretch for the Hurricanes, behind streaks of 162 polls in a row (1985 through 1995) and 107 straight (1999 through 2006).

Miami was 10th in the AP preseason poll, while Indiana was ranked No. 20 to start the season.

It’s been more than a decade since a team started 10th or lower and won the national title. Florida State was 11th to open the 2013 season and Auburn was 22nd to open the 2010 season.

For the 20th time in the last 21 seasons, the preseason No. 1 won’t win the national title. Alabama did it in 2017, the only exception in that span.

Miami has come from relatively far back in the pack to win national championships before. The Hurricanes weren’t ranked until the fifth poll of the 1983 season (it was a top 20 then) and were 10th to start the 1987 season.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Miami players celebrate after winning the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal game against Mississippi, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) celebrates after the Peach Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal against Oregon, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Miami offensive lineman Markel Bell holds up a trophy after winning the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal game against Mississippi, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Indiana wide receiver Elijah Sarratt (13) holds up the trophy after the Peach Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal against Oregon, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Managerless Manchester United crashed out of the FA Cup with a 2-1 defeat to Brighton on Sunday.

At the end of a week that saw the storied Premier League team fire head coach Ruben Amorim, the loss at Old Trafford has likely consigned United to another trophyless season and was greeted with loud jeers from the home crowd.

Former United striker Danny Welbeck scored what proved the decisive goal in the 64th minute, and Benjamin Sesko's late header was only a consolation for the hosts in the third-round match.

United has exited both domestic knockout competitions at the earliest possible stage this season, following the humbling loss to fourth-tier Grimsby in the English League Cup. The latest defeat means United will play the bare minimum of 40 competitive games for a top division team this season.

Its only chance of silverware this term is the Premier League, which would require a remarkable turnaround with the 20-time champion currently seventh in the standings and 17 points behind leader Arsenal with 17 games left.

United hopes an interim coach will be able to secure Champions League qualification, with the club having spoken to former players Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Michael Carrick about taking on the role until the end of the season. Youth coach Darren Fletcher, who has taken charge of the two games since Amorim's departure, is also a contender, as well as former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The loss to Brighton underlined the job facing the interim coach.

Brajan Gruda fired the visitors ahead in the 12th, with Welbeck doubling the advantage after the break. Sesko scored his third goal in two games in the 85th, but substitute Shea Lacey was sent off four minutes later and United could not force an equalizer to take the game to extra time.

Arsenal advanced earlier Sunday with Gabriel Martinelli scoring a hat trick in a 4-1 win at Portsmouth.

Martinelli's treble helped the Premier League leader come back from going a goal down to the second-tier Championship team inside three minutes.

Colby Bishop stunned Arsenal with the opening goal at Fratton Park, but the lead only lasted five minutes after Andre Dozzell scored an own-goal.

Martinelli put the visitors ahead with a flicked header in the 25th. He slid in for his second six minutes after the break and headed in his hat-trick goal in the 72nd. It was the first time the Brazilian had scored a hat trick for Arsenal.

Victory could have been even more emphatic if Noni Madueke had converted from the penalty spot in the first half.

“It’s always tough to go into these places, especially in the manner that we started the game, conceding the early goal, but we managed to turn things around so I’m very happy,” said manager Mikel Arteta.

Record 14-time FA Cup winner Arsenal last lifted the trophy in Arteta’s first season in charge in 2020. It was the last major honor the London club won, but victory against Portsmouth maintains its four-pronged trophy pursuit along with the Premier League title, the Champions League and the English League Cup.

“I think we are very privileged to be where we are, and the games that we have to play, which means that we are in every competition,” Arteta said.

Top-flight Leeds was also behind to Championship opposition, but recovered from 1-0 down to beat Derby 3-1 at Pride Park.

Third-tier Mansfield pulled off an upset to beat Championship side Sheffield United 4-3 and Norwich routed Walsall 5-1, with Jovon Makama scoring a hat trick. Norwich head coach Philippe Clement later said that U.S. international Josh Sargent refused to play in the game.

Relegation-fighting West Ham needed extra time to beat QPR 2-1. Valentin ‘Taty’ Castellanos’ goal saw Nuno Espirito Santo’s team end a 10-match winless run.

West Bromwich Albion beat Swansea 6-5 on penalties following a 2-2 draw after extra time. Hull won 4-3 against Blackburn on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Brighton's Danny Welbeck celebrates after scoring during the FA Cup third round soccer match between Manchester United and Brighton in Manchester, England, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Manchester United's Matheus Cunha reacts during the FA Cup third round soccer match between Manchester United and Brighton in Manchester, England, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli scores during the FA Cup third round soccer match between Portsmouth and Arsenal in Portsmouth, England, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke celebrate after a goal during the FA Cup third round soccer match between Portsmouth and Arsenal in Portsmouth, England, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Leeds United's James Justin scores their side's third goal of the game during the Emirates FA Cup third round match between Derby County and Leeds United, in Derby, England, Sunday Jan. 11, 2026. (David Davies/PA via AP)

Leeds United's Ao Tanaka, right, celebrates with Wilfried Gnonto after scoring their side's second goal of the game during the Emirates FA Cup third round match between Derby County and Leeds United, in Derby, England, Sunday Jan. 11, 2026. (David Davies/PA via AP)

Arsenal players celebrate after a goal during the FA Cup third round soccer match between Portsmouth and Arsenal in Portsmouth, England, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)