[6BS] Hoosier Football Win School's Sixth Major Banner
Basketball Stops Slide Beating Rutgers
Welcome to another edition of 6-Banner Sunday, a joint production between The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall, and presented by our friends at Homefield Apparel, where we highlight the five most essential IU basketball stories of the past week, plus take a look at how the other IU sports programs are doing.
Football finished the job. The Hoosiers of the gridiron gave Indiana its first national championship of any kind since IU soccer in 2012.
Also, men’s and women’s basketball continued Big Ten play with mixed results. As usual, we will conclude with weekly shows and a look at the rest of the Hoosiers sports in action with was led by water polo continuing to roll.
The Assembly Call is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Here is what is in this week’s edition:
Football Hoosiers Win National Championship
Hoosier Basketball Beats Rutgers To Stop Slide
Indiana Defeated By Michigan
Women’s Basketball Falls To Ohio State
Weekly Shows
Hoosier Roundup-Water Polo Continues To Roll
Banner #1: Football Hoosiers Win National Championship
IU fans have been waiting for a sixth banner in basketball since 1987, hence the name of this publication. However, in an alternate way, that sixth major banner did come for Hoosier athletics.
While the next basketball championship will have to wait, this achievement is just as significant for Indiana fans. This is because the unthinkable happened as IU is the national champion of college football after years at the bottom of the sport.
By beating Miami last Monday night, the Hoosiers finished 16-0, winning IU’s 26th national championship as an athletic department and first in football. The school boasts the most recent undefeated seasons in both football and men’s basketball now.
The final game was a thriller. Indiana needed a blocked punt for a TD, a late Fernando Mendoza incredible scramble score, and a game-sealing interception. In the end, though, the Hoosiers pulled out a 27-21 win on the Hurricanes’ home field and had roughly 2/3 of the crowd celebrating at Hard Rock Stadium with the trophy presentation afterwards.
For Indiana as a whole, despite some close calls, it was the first major championship for the state since the Colts won the Super Bowl on the same field back in February of 2007. Also, the celebration continued throughout the week and on Saturday with a celebration in Memorial Stadium despite the cold weather.
While IU should continue to be a newfound power in the sport as long as coach Curt Cignetti is in Bloomington, this particular version of the squad that galvanized Hoosier fans everywhere will change. Mendoza and DeAngelo Ponds, amongst others, are either declaring for the draft, leaving, or out of college eligibility.
However, this football season was something Indiana fans will never forget. This was evidenced by the huge crowds and TV numbers throughout the fall of 2025 and into 2026.
Banner #2: Hoosier Basketball Beats Rutgers To Stop Slide
IU finally stopped its four-game slide in basketball. As has been the case throughout 2025-2026, Indiana continued to easily take care of basketball teams that are struggling, regardless of venue, as they went to Rutgers and dominated the Scarlet Knights 82-59.
The Hoosiers had three players score at least 20 points as Tucker Devries, Nick Dorn, and Lamar Wilkerson all had huge nights. The team also won easily by knocking down 15 three-pointers.
Afterwards, Ryan Corazza wrote a Minute After, Alex Bozich penned Five Takeaways, and Quinn Richards put together a column about Dorn’s strong night.
Banner #3: Indiana Defeated By Michigan
While dominating struggling teams has not been a problem, beating squads with a pulse has been an issue for IU. This continued on Tuesday as Indiana was overwhelmed by elite Michigan from the get-go, before making the score more respectable late in an 86-72 loss.
Afterwards, IU Coach Darian DeVries spoke, Corazza wrote a Minute After and Film Session, and Bozich penned Five Takeaways.
At 13-7 overall and 4-5 in the Big Ten, the Hoosiers continue to sit near the NCAA Tournament bubble. They have a solid record but are in the midst of a tough stretch and host elite arch-rival Purdue on Tuesday (9 pm on Peacock) before a road matchup across the country at surging UCLA on Saturday (5 pm on Peacock).
Their NET sits around 35 overall. While they have few, if any, bad losses, they lack the critical signature victories needed on an NCAA Tournament resume. However, how they perform in the rest of conference play will decide if they make their first March Madness since 2023 or sink well out of the postseason picture.
Banner #4: Women’s Basketball Falls To Ohio State
Things have not gone much better (and arguably worse) on the women’s side. While reinforcements appear to be on the way for a better future with a new recruiting coordinator and the best recruiting class in program history for 2026-2027, the interim has been a massive struggle.
Currently, the team is paying for its previous recruiting issues while winning, which has all come to a head this season. The squad sits at 11-9 overall and 0-8 in the league.
This week saw a competitive loss to a top Ohio State squad. The Hoosiers’ first conference win could come today, however. This is because they head to arch-rival Purdue at 12 pm on BTN, and the Boilermakers have had similar trouble finding victories this season.
Presenting Sponsor: Homefield Apparel
Homefield’s annual Black Friday sale has already begun. Use the promo code BLACKFRIDAY at checkout to get 20% off your entire order.
The item of the week for this week is the new “Hurryin’ Hoosiers” snapback hat. Both
Jerod Morris and Tony Adragna have it, and can attest to its quality and fit.
Plus, how cool is it to have an item celebrating the great teams under Branch McCracken?
Banner #5: Weekly Shows
Podcast on the Brink returned this week. On it, Alex Bozich was joined by Inside the Hall’s own Josh Pos to discuss football’s national championship.
Also, The Back Home Network has many shows. As a result, it was on air many times this week with programming, including several shows that talk about the national championship as well.
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Banner #6: Hoosier Roundup-Water Polo Continues To Roll
Water Polo upset top-10 UC Irvine and won three more times this week, including defeating ranked Brown, to improve to a perfect 5-0.
Baseball put season tickets on sale.
Men’s soccer had a player sign with a pro squad.
Wrestling beat Maryland but lost to Penn State.
Women’s tennis beat Kennesaw State and Butler.
Men’s tennis fell to Mississippi State and Virginia.
Track and field took part in the Crossroads Invite.
Thanks for your continued support of The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall. We’ll be back next weekend with a new roundup.
Now go enjoy yourself a 6-banner Sunday.
Aaron (Ari) Shifron
Assembly Call Contributor
The Assembly Call is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Outstanding recap of what has to be the craziest swing in IU athletics in recent memory. Going from perpetual football struggles to an undefeated natinal championship is the kind of story sports movies get made about. The timing with basketball struggling makes it even more interseting - like the whole athletic energy shifted sports.