By Jensen Boyd
In the stadium, a fan watched through the icy, white flakes that piled to his knees as the crimson and cream jersey juked its way into the endzone–TOUCHDOWN!
In the midst of the snowstorm, the Indiana Hoosiers overcame the Michigan State Spartans in a 2022 regular-season game, showing a flash of heat in a cold, bitter era for IU football. But now, in 2025, that flash has ignited into a full-blown fire … and the Hoosiers are hotter than ever.
Now ranked No. 1 nationally, undefeated IU is among the leading contenders to win the College Football Playoff title.
But IU football isn’t the only sports team in Indiana lighting things up.
Purdue men’s basketball was ranked No. 1 in the nation in the early season rankings. The Boilermakers are ranked No. 6 currently but remain a strong contender for the national championship. The Indianapolis Colts are in playoff contention and have a record of 8-5, an improvement from previous seasons. The Indiana Pacers finished as NBA runner-up six months ago in June. The WNBA Fever made the final four last season – even without injured superstar Caitlin Clark. And Notre Dame football finished as national runner-up in January 2025 and was ranked in the top 10 this season.
Collectively, these teams make Indiana the hottest sports state in the country right now.
“From my perspective, being a little bit older, my generation is used to basketball being big, but football is huge right now, too,” said marketing and accounting teacher Mr. Andy Lewman. “And there’s a part of me that’s kind of excited for that because of how much more it broadens the scope of what our state looks like when it comes to sports.”
Mr. Jacob VanPelt, P.E. II teacher, was born in a Hoosier household, making him a die-hard IU fan.
VanPelt’s family fanbase stemmed from his dad and grandpa, who both loved IU’s most successful basketball coach of all time, Bob Knight.
For VanPelt, growing up a Hoosier fan didn’t come with high praise, especially for the football program.
The program had struggled for many years. At one point, the Hoosiers held the worst record in the Big 10 and had the most losses in college football.
Even though there were occasional glimpses of hope, like when VanPelt witnessed Indiana defeat Michigan State in the 2022 game described above, the Hoosiers were never able to maintain their success.
But IU’s sucky streak soon would end after a 3-9 season in 2023 under head coach Tom Allen.
In 2024, head coach Curt Cignetti packed his suitcase and left James Madison University to lead the Hoosiers.
This coaching change transformed IU’s football team entirely.
In Cignetti’s first year with the Hoosiers, he flipped the script. IU finished with an 11-2 record and appeared in their first playoff game in program history.
This season, the Hoosiers achieved remarkable results, finishing the regular season with a 13-0 record.
Indiana has notable wins against No. 5 Oregon and previous No. 2 Penn State. But most significantly, the Hoosiers won the Big 10 Championship, beating the former No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes 13-10.
The Hoosiers are now the No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs and have a first-round bye.
VanPelt has been excited watching IU grow in such a small amount of time.
“Last year (2024-25 season), I was dying for a football team I could like because the Colts (in recent years) have been so bad,” Mr. VanPelt said. “But then IU’s football team came around and started having a lot of success, and I just thought that was really awesome.”
VanPelt credits much of IU’s recent success to Coach Cignetti and the offense. The team is averaging 41.9 points per game.
Leading the pack is quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who is in his first year at IU after transferring from California. He has thrown 33 touchdowns and rushed for six in 13 games.
And the stats don’t lie as he is also the frontrunner to win the 2025 Heisman award and projected to be a top-5 pick in next year’s NFL draft.
On the other side of the ball, VanPelt believes the defense has played great, only giving up an average of 10.9 points per game.
Sophomore IU fan Luke Atkinson has now attended two games this season– away at Penn State and away at Purdue.
Seeing the team in person, Atkinson has high expectations for the Hoosiers heading into the playoffs.
If everyone stays healthy, Atkinson believes IU has what it takes to win it all.
Regardless, Coach Cignetti has transformed IU football entirely in just two years, cementing his name in IU football history.
And for the Colts, new general manager Carlie Irsay-Gordon is trying to do the same.
With the passing of her father, Colts owner Jim Irsay, on May 21, 2025, she took over as general manager. With her arrival came a revamped team.
Mrs. Julie Blakely, U.S. History teacher, became a long-time fan when the Colts moved to Indianapolis from Baltimore in 1984. She felt the new team gave her state pride.
In recent years, from 2020-2023, the Colts accumulated a 33-33-1 record and weren’t consistent.
In 2024, with the addition of newly drafted players, Blakely had high expectations going into the season. But adding to their inconsistency, the Colts finished 8-9 on the season.
Going into this year, the Colts made more moves heading into the 2025 season, trading for quarterback Daniel Jones and re-signing key players.
These offseason transactions gave Blakely hope for a promising season.
The Colts started off hot, stacking wins to a 7-1 record.
But one loss led to another as injuries to key players mounted. As of right now, the Colts are tied with Texas for the second place spot in their division, standing at a record of 8-5.
Additionally, in the Colts’ week 14 loss to the Jaguars, Jones tore his Achilles, ensuring an end to his season.
Despite the hardships, Blakely is still confident in the team. Her confidence is mainly stemming from running back Jonathan Taylor, who she claims has been “killing it.”
“Just a couple of years ago, he (Jonathan Taylor) was pretty dissatisfied with the Colts, but now he’s settled in and ready to work for the team,” she said.
Taylor currently leads the NFL in rushing yards (1,356) and rushing touchdowns (16).
With the Colts being in the hunt, Taylor must continue his production to give his team the best chance at making the playoffs.
Especially since the Colts have only made the playoffs three times in the past 10 years.
Blakely recognizes that this stat could come back to bite them in the butt.
“The Colts do tend to lack playoff experience, so that could weigh into their games,” she said. “Especially because some teams with not great records may slip into the playoffs and perform better than the teams with good records.”
Unlike the Colts, Purdue basketball has shown consistency and success in recent years.
Purdue was ranked No. 1 in college basketball in the preseason. As of now, they have dropped to No. 6 after losing to No. 4 Iowa State.
The Boilermakers are 8-1 on the season with wins over No. 12 Alabama and No. 16 Texas Tech.
Andy Lewman believes a key part of Purdue’s success is head coach Matt Painter, a Delta graduate.
Coincidentally, Lewman and Painter were Eagles together and were also teammates on the hardwood in the middle and late 1980s. Lewman played on the JV team while Painter played varsity.
As Painter went off to play for the Boilermakers, Lewman followed, just this time as a fan.
Lewman believes that Coach Painter has produced proficient players who are passionate about the sport.
Specifically for this year’s team, Mr. Lewman thinks that the secret formula is the team’s depth. Even though they have their stars, they also have players fresh off the bench who can make plays.
“I think their depth is going to be a big-time difference maker because when you get into those Big Ten games, you’re going to need guys to step up,” Mr. Lewman said.
Besides their depth, leaders Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn affect the team in large proportions. Last year, these two led the Boilermakers to the Sweet 16 after Purdue reached the championship game in 2024.
But this year, Mr. Lewman thinks their leadership will help them achieve even more success.
“They (Smith and Kaufman-Renn) don’t want Purdue basketball to be a team that’s just ranked in the top 10,” Mr. Lewman said. “They want to be able to take Purdue basketball to the mecca and be in a position where they walk away with two trips to the final four and possibly a national championship.”
The winning tradition of Indiana sports has spread to women’s basketball as well.
The WNBA Indiana Fever are coming off a hot run in the 2025 season. They wrapped up their 24-win season by making it to the final four— even without lead guard Caitlin Clark.
Clark, after just 13 games of the season, put together a string of injuries that ultimately cut her season short.
“They are a full team. Even with Caitlin (Clark) hurt, other players stepped up and did really well,” said senior Ruth Sherck, a Fever fan. “It’s good to see that the team isn’t just all Caitlin Clark. It’s a whole team of players, not just one.”
Clark’s teammates weren’t able to finish the job, however. In the WNBA semi-finals, the Fever lost to the Las Vegas Aces in game 5.
But for Sherck, that’s not a huge deal– she is simply proud that the team is finally finding success.
Having gone to a couple of games, she loved to see the team play. Especially when Clark is in the game.
“Things have really changed since Caitlin Clark has been here,” Sherck said. “She has been absolutely awesome to watch, and it is crazy now because there are so many more bandwagons.”
One step further than the Fever, the professional men’s basketball team in Indiana made it to the NBA Finals last year.
The Pacers finished the regular season with 47 wins and 35 losses before turning some heads with their surprising playoff performance.
In the 2023-2024 season, the Pacers made it to the Eastern Conference finals, where they were shut out by the Celtics.
But last year, something changed.
Keegan Irwin, a junior who has been a Pacers fan since birth, believes that Tyrese Haliburton was the team’s key to success in their historic run.
Haliburton was able to hit a clutch shot at the end of three playoff games, which ultimately propelled the Pacers to major victories over the Cavaliers, Bucks, and Knicks.
Swoosh.(119-118 over the Bucks, game 5)
Swoosh. (120-119 over the Cavaliers, game 2)
Swoosh. (138-135 over the Knicks, game 1)
But even more than Haliburton, Irwin thought that the team’s “aura” and chemistry contributed largely to last season’s accomplishments.
“The energy as a whole was so much better. We had one of the best benches in the league, and their energy helped out so much,” Irwin said. “Plus, with the fans and everything, it was such a fun team.”
Haliburton eventually tore his Achilles in game 7 of the NBA Finals after sustaining a calf injury in game 6.
The Pacers lost the series in 7 to the Thunder, pushing the No. 1 seed to their limits.
Despite the tough loss, Irwin was excited to finally see the Pacers have success.
Irwin’s expectations for the team going into this season were the highest they had ever been.
But things can turn quickly. This season, the Pacers are 6-18, with the first five games all being losses.
Brick.
Brick.
Brick.
This doesn’t show the Pacers’ potential, as they have missed several key players due to injury.
But Irwin still believes there will be a rainbow in the wake of the rainstorm.
“Right now we are young, and we aren’t doing the best,” Irwin said. “But once we get everybody back (from injury), I 100% believe that we can compete with any team in the league.”
The Pacers still have 58 more games to go, so there is still time to turn things around.
If they are able to find the momentum that helped them win last year, they may be able to carry it into another hopeful season.
Another Indiana team that is coming off an impressive season is the Notre Dame Irish football team.
Notre Dame capped off their 2024-2025 season with a 14-2 record.
Before the playoffs last year, the Irish were ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll, which is the highest they have ranked since 1993.
They advanced to the College Football Championship last January, where they came up short to Ohio State 32-23.
Kaden Crist, a big-time Irish fan since birth, thinks that the team’s faith fueled their deep playoff run.
“I honestly think a main component of their success was their faith since they’re a Christian school,” Crist said. “ I think that when they all can come together through faith, you can get really far in going one direction.”
Like the Pacers, Notre Dame’s hot streak came to a sudden halt early this season.
The Irish lost their season-opening game to the Miami Hurricanes and followed that with another defeat to now No. 7 Texas A&M.
Since the rough start, the Irish responded with resilience by racking up 10 consecutive wins. They finished the season back in the rankings at the No. 11 seed.
Crist was able to attend a game late in the season when the Irish squared off against Syracuse in week 11.
In this game, the Irish beat Syracuse 70-7 in what Crist called a “statement win”.
Despite the two losses, Crist claims that the Irish have been playing at a high level.
However, the Irish fell short when the College Football Playoff committee voted to exclude Notre Dame from this year’s playoffs. The 10-2 Miami Hurricanes and the 10-3 Alabama Crimson Tide got in over the Irish, who were the first team out.
Quickly after the news spread, Notre Dame also chose to decline a bowl game invitation. They will not play in another game this season.
Although the Irish’s ending wasn’t what they had hoped for, they still recovered from an early blunder and finished the season on a 10-game winning streak.
