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No. 1 Indiana awaits Alabama with CFP semifinal berth on the line

AP photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti speaks during a news conference after quarterback Fernando Mendoza became the Hoosiers' first player to win the Heisman Trophy on Dec. 13 in New York.
AP photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti speaks during a news conference after quarterback Fernando Mendoza became the Hoosiers' first player to win the Heisman Trophy on Dec. 13 in New York. AP photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti speaks during a news conference after quarterback Fernando Mendoza became the Hoosiers' first player to win the Heisman Trophy on Dec. 13 in New York.

By CLIFF BRUNT / The Associated Press 4 min read

Alabama and Indiana couldn’t have more different football histories.

This Indiana team couldn’t be more unlike the program’s painful past.

Alabama (11-3), ranked 11th in the AP Top 25 and seeded 1oth in the College Football Playoff, will play No. 1 Indiana (13-0) in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, California, a postseason matchup of a blue-blood program and the ultimate upstart.

Southeastern Conference power Alabama is one of the most successful programs in college football, with six national titles this century. Indiana has never won a New Year’s Six game and has no bowl victories since 1991.

The Crimson Tide, though, are well aware this Indiana team is different. The Hoosiers feature Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, and Indiana’s Curt Cignetti has been voted the AP college football coach of the year both of his first two seasons in Bloomington.