How Alabama and Indiana see each other before first meeting in Rose Bowl
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LOS ANGELES — One hundred years ago, the Rose Bowl was the stage on which Alabama football became Alabama football.
The Crimson Tide beat Washington, a team it had never faced, to secure its first national championship, cementing the South’s presence in the national conversation around college football, a conversation the South never left.
One hundred years later, Alabama is heading back to Pasadena with a path to a national championship on the line facing a team it has never faced in a game that pits conference and geographic rivalry head to head.
Alabama’s meeting with Indiana in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl is something bigger than just surviving and advancing in a bracket, even if that is the only thing on the minds of Crimson Tide and Hoosier players.
Indiana’s impression of Alabama football
Indiana wide receiver Elijah Sarratt admits it.
“I was on the Alabama bandwagon as a kid,” Sarratt said, sharing his love for Nick Saban and all the players the Crimson Tide had, including running back Trent Richardson who would “run that rock and be crazy.”
For many on the Indiana roster, much of whom grew up in Big Ten country, Alabama was at the center of the college football world when they were introduced to the sport in the first place: the 201 wins of the Saban era, the six national championships, the four Heisman Trophy winners.
“Alabama is, for years under Nick Saban, the standard, the staple of college football,” Indiana offensive lineman Zen Michalski said.
Alabama is a connection Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza knows well. His Cuban-born grandfather went from Miami High School to LSU. He was always an LSU fan, and the Mendoza family always watched “those Alabama-LSU clashes.”
“Alabama has been a juggernaut forever,” Mendoza said. “They’re historically the best college football program of all-time.”
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti has his connection to Alabama — the five seasons he spent on Saban’s staff from 2007-11 as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator — a connection Mendoza said pays dividends now in how Cignetti runs Indiana.
Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones had a chance to experience Alabama in person.
Jones attended the Crimson Tide’s 2015 Sugar Bowl loss to Ohio State with his father, former Ohio State linebacker DJ Jones, which gave Isaiah a distinct impression of Alabama fans.
“They got the ‘Roll Tide’ and the little pom-pom things,” Jones said. “It’s a little obnoxious, but every fan base has got their thing.”
Alabama’s impression of Alabama football
Alabama linebacker Justin Hill knows Indiana well.
The Cincinnati, Ohio native went to Winton Woods High School, a school less than 150 miles from Indiana University, a program that was always a constant presence on the recruiting trail. Hill said Indiana was “always a good idea” despite starting its turnaround in 2024 after recording nine wins in its three previous seasons combined.
“It’s definitely amazing to see what they are doing in college football now,” Hill said. “Obviously adding more variety to college football. It’s great to see Midwest football.”
To Alabama, Indiana represents something bigger: the program at the top of the rival conference, one Alabama players consistently put the SEC above.
Geno VanDeMark has played in both the Big Ten and the SEC, starting his career with Michigan State before playing his final two seasons with the Crimson Tide. They are the “two best conferences in college football,” he said.
But there is a difference between the two.
“I’m a Big Ten guy, came there out of high school. I think the average player in the SEC is better,” VanDeMark said. “It’s harder to block. Not trying to be disrespectful … I don’t know. It’s just harder week in, week out in the SEC. I think it’s the best conference in college football.”
Germie Bernard, who played at Michigan State before transferring to Washington and Alabama, said “the speed of the game and the physicality of the game” is different in the SEC, while admitting the NCAA transfer portal can help make the two conferences more equal.
SEC and Big Ten teams met three times in the 2025 regular season. SEC teams won two of three meetings as Oklahoma beat Michigan and Alabama beat Wisconsin. Ohio State’s season-opening win against Texas was the Big Ten’s only regular-season win against an SEC team.
And Michael Carroll can see why.
Carroll is from Pennsylvania. His father played football at Penn State. His mother played basketball at Michigan State. In the South, football just has a higher level of size, strength and speed, Carroll said.
So is there a difference between SEC and Big Ten football?
“I would definitely have to say yes,” Carroll said. “And I think Big Ten guys would agree with that.”
What should Alabama and Indiana expect in the Rose Bowl?
What should Alabama expect to see from Indiana? To Jones, it’s simple. It’s a different-looking Hoosiers team from the past 50 years.
“I think they are going to see a team that’s relentless, they get to the ball,” Jones said. “We play fast, we play physical. And it’s just 11 guys out there doing their job for one another. It’s just one beating heart. It’s just a different team, and I think they are going to see it Thursday.”
When asked what Indiana should expect from Alabama, Bernard nearly echoed Jones.
“Just playing football, great execution, physicality, having fun, flying around, being with our brothers, taking in the moment,” Bernard said. “I mean, just having fun with the game.”
To VanDeMark, though, none of this geography talk matters. This game, for him, isn’t a measuring stick between the Big Ten and the SEC. It’s much more simple.
“I just want to win the next football game,” VanDeMark said. “I’m on a month-to-month lease, and I don’t want to end my lease. I want to keep playing football with my brothers.”
Alabama kicks off against Indiana in the Rose Bowl at 3:10 p.m. CT Thursday, Jan. 1.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football and Indiana first impressions before 2026 Rose Bowl
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