No. 1 Indiana and No. 10 Miami built their championship rosters through different paths, but both teams relied heavily on experienced players and transfer portal additions.
That’s become the blueprint for success in modern college football, according to both coaches ahead of the College Football Playoff championship game on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium.
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti engineered a two-year turnaround with the Hoosiers. Miami coach Mario Cristobal has the Hurricanes chasing their sixth national championship and first since 2001.
“Ironically, we are playing against a team that is very much a veteran group, right?” Cristobal said on the CFP championship teleconference Monday. “You’re looking at a lot of similarities in the sense of players that have experience — experience is irreplaceable.”
Both rosters feature experienced players mixed with transfer portal additions.
“I think in college football nowadays you’ve gotta win every year — with social media the way it is, the pressure to be successful, you’ve gotta put together a team that’s ready to compete for championships every single year,” Cignetti said on the CFP championship teleconference. “Now, the more success you have, the better you’re going to recruit from the high school ranks. Those guys will develop, and most of them will redshirt, but some of them will play as a freshman.”
Sporting News analyzed both teams’ starting lineups, including 12 offensive starters, 11 defensive starters, kicker and punter.
Indiana vs. Miami rosters by star ratings, experience, transfers
Miami features 10 blue-chip recruits among its starting lineup. That includes two 5-star prospects and eight 4-star prospects.
Indiana has just two blue-chip starters: 4-star offensive lineman Zen Michalski and 4-star punter Mitch McCarthy.
Indiana’s starters average 2.5 stars according to 247Sports.com rankings and 4.3 years of college football experience. Fifteen players – 60% of the starting lineup – came through the transfer portal.
Six starters followed Cignetti from James Madison. The Hoosiers have two starters from Indiana and four each from Texas, Florida and Virginia.
“When I got here we had 10 offensive starters in the transfer portal and we had one returner on defense,” Cignetti said. “We were down to 40 scholarships by Day 3, so we needed to hit the portal hard. And we signed 22 guys that all have been two- or three-year starters with consistent production. I knew we had flipped the roster.”
Miami’s 25 starters average 3.0 stars and 3.9 years of college experience. Fourteen players – 56% – came through the transfer portal.
Miami has 10 starters from Florida. Six of those players were recruited to Miami out of high school.
“For us, I think it’s been a great blend of the portal pickups combined with the players that have been here for three and four years,” Cristobal said. “It comes down to the fact that they’re like-minded individuals, and the young talent we recruited, they are from a DNA standpoint, they are hard-working guys. They are high-achievers.”
Indiana vs. Miami offense by star ratings, experience, transfers
Indiana’s starting offense averaged 2.5 stars and 4.4 years of college experience. Seven players transferred at least once.
Elijah Sarratt transferred twice – from Saint Francis (Pa.) to James Madison to Indiana. Zen Michalski and Omar Cooper Jr. are Indiana natives.
The experienced offense averages 42.6 points per game.
“There’s no question about it — a 22 year old is a little wiser, older, bigger, stronger,” Cignetti said. “He’s had four years in the offense, defense or special teams, and he’s a more productive player.”
| POS | PLAYER | STARS | EXP. | TRANSFER |
| QB | Fernando Mendoza | 3 | 4 | Cal |
| RB | Roman Hemby | 3 | 5 | Maryland |
| RB | Kaelon Black | 3 | 6 | James Madison |
| WR | Elijah Sarratt | 0 | 4 | Saint Francis, James Madison |
| WR | Charlie Becker | 3 | 2 | |
| WR | Omar Cooper Jr. | 3 | 4 | |
| TE | Riley Nowakowski | 0 | 6 | |
| OL | Carter Smith | 3 | 4 | |
| OL | Drew Evans | 2 | 4 | Wisconsin |
| OL | Bray Lynch | 3 | 4 | |
| OL | Zen Michalski | 4 | 5 | Ohio State |
| OL | Pat Coogan | 3 | 5 | Notre Dame |
Miami’s starting offense averages 3.3 stars and 4.0 years of college experience.
Carson Beck and CJ Daniels are sixth-year players. Seven offensive players transferred at least once.
Three players – Daniels, Keelan Marion and James Brockermeyer – are two-time transfers.
| POS | PLAYER | STARS | EXP. | TRANSFER |
| QB | Carson Beck | 4 | 6 | Georgia |
| RB | Mark Fletcher Jr. | 4 | 3 | – |
| RB | CharMar Brown | 3 | 3 | North Dakota State |
| WR | Malachi Toney | 3 | 1 | – |
| WR | CJ Daniels | 2 | 6 | Liberty, LSU |
| WR | Keelan Marion | 3 | 5 | UConn, BYU |
| TE | Alex Bauman | 3 | 4 | Tulane |
| OL | James Brockermeyer | 4 | 5 | Alabama, TCU |
| OL | Francis Mauigoa | 5 | 3 | – |
| OL | Markel Bell | 3 | 4 | Holmes CC |
| OL | Anez Cooper | 3 | 4 | – |
| OL | Matthew McCoy | 3 | 4 | – |
Indiana vs. Miami defense by star ratings, experience, transfers
Indiana’s starting defense averaged 1.5 stars and 4.3 years of college experience.
Seven defensive players transferred at least once. All-American linebacker Aiden Fisher, cornerback D’Angelo Ponds and defensive tackle Tyrique Taylor followed Cignetti from James Madison.
Mario Landino and Rolijah Hardy were key pieces of Indiana’s 2024 recruiting class.
| POS | PLAYER | STARS | EXP. | TRANSFER |
| DL | Mikail Kamara | 0 | 6 | James Madison |
| DL | Dominique Ratcliff | 3 | 6 | Louisiana, Texas State |
| DL | Tyrique Tucker | 0 | 4 | James Madison |
| DL | Mario Landino | 2 | 2 | |
| LB | Aiden Fisher | 0 | 4 | James Madison |
| LB | Rolijah Hardy | 0 | 2 | |
| LB | Isaiah Jones | 3 | 4 | |
| DB | D’Angelo Ponds | 3 | 3 | James Madison |
| DB | Louis Moore | 0 | 6 | Navarro CC, Ole Miss |
| DB | Devan Boykin | 3 | 6 | NC State |
| DB | Jamari Sharpe | 3 | 4 |
Miami’s starting defense averages 3.3 stars and 3.9 years of college experience.
Sophomore defensive lineman Justin Scott is the only 5-star recruit from either defense. Rueben Bain, Ahmad Moten Sr. and Wesley Bissainthe are in-state recruits.
Bain and Bissainthe are Miami natives.
The defense features six transfers, including all five players in the secondary.
“We’re as national as Miami has ever been from a roster standpoint, all positions, but again it doesn’t matter if you’re from one mile away or 1,000 miles away,” Cristobal said. “If you are made of the right stuff, you’ve got the right heart and the right mindset, it works. The team is very evenly made up of all three of those different buckets of talent.”
| POS | PLAYER | STARS | EXP. | TRANSFER |
| DL | Rueben Bain Jr. | 4 | 3 | – |
| DL | Justin Scott | 5 | 2 | – |
| DL | Ahmad Moten Sr. | 3 | 4 | – |
| DL | Akheem Mesidor | 3 | 6 | West Virginia |
| LB | Wesley Bissainthe | 4 | 4 | – |
| LB | Mohamed Toure | 3 | 7 | – |
| DB | Keionte Scott | 4 | 4 | Auburn |
| DB | Jakobe Thomas | 3 | 5 | MTSU, Tennessee |
| DB | Ethan O’Connor | 4 | 3 | Washington State |
| DB | Xavier Lucas | 3 | 2 | Wisconsin |
| DB | Zechariah Poyser | 0 | 3 | Jacksonville State |
Indiana vs. Miami special teams by star ratings, experience, transfers
Indiana’s kicker and punter average 1.5 stars and 3.5 years of college experience.
Nico Radicic was a 3-star recruit in high school. Mitch McCarthy – a UCF transfer – is from Australia.
| POS | PLAYER | STARS | EXP. | TRANSFER |
| K | Nico Radicic | 3 | 3 | – |
| P | Mitch McCarthy | 0 | 4 | UCF |
Miami’s special teams specialists received zero stars in recruiting but average 3.5 years of experience.
Carter Davis transferred from FAU. Dylan Joyce is also an Australian punter.
| POS | PLAYER | STARS | EXP. | TRANSFER |
| K | Carter Davis | 0 | 4 | FAU |
| P | Dylan Joyce | 0 | 3 | – |
