Why is Mark Cuban at Peach Bowl between Indiana football and Oregon?

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Fresh off a dominating performance in the Rose Bowl,Indiana football finds itself two steps away from pulling off the unthinkable in the College Football Playoff.

It’s a moment in Hoosiers history that many fans and alums have wanted to experience in person, as highlighted by the reported Indiana fanbase invasion of Atlanta for the College Football Playoff Peach Bowl semifinal on Friday, Jan. 9.

That includes longtime “Shark Tank” panelist and entrepreneur — along with former Dallas Mavericks principal owner before selling the majority stake to the Adelson family — Mark Cuban, who was seen on the field pregame at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

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The Hoosiers are in the midst of an unbelievable two-year turnaround under Curt Cignetti, who was hired away from James Madison after the Hoosiers went 3-9 in 2023 under Tom Allen, that has featured the program’s first undefeated regular season and first outright Big Ten Conference title since 1945 in 2025 after a CFP appearance in 2024.

But why is Cuban in Atlanta? Here’s what to know ahead of the Peach Bowl:

Why is Mark Cuban at Peach Bowl?

Cuban is taking in the CFP Peach Bowl semifinal like most Indiana fans: watching his alma mater compete for a chance to advance to the program’s first CFP Championship game.

His appearance also comes a few days after he told Front Office Sports that he had made another donation to Indiana’s athletic department during the Hoosiers’ CFP semifinal run.

“Already committed for this portal,” Cuban wrote to Front Office Sportsin an email. Cuban’s financial contributions have already seen an impact, as the Hoosiers landed one of the top quarterbacks in the transfer portal in former TCU quarterback Josh Hoover.

As mentioned by the Indianapolis Star — part of the USA TODAY Network — it is the second notable donation that Cuban has made to the university’s athletic department since Cignetti was hired in November of 2024.

REQUIRED READING: CFP rematches: How have teams done in regular season rematch?

“I gave some to sports this year for the first time ever,” Cuban said in an interview with CBS Sports in 2025. “Typically, I was the exact opposite. I’m not a fan of anything that I believe raises tuition in the least bit. But after getting to talk to Cig and seeing what was going on, they kinda talked me into it.

He added: “The fact that Cig has said I win everywhere I go, I didn’t believe him, but he showed it against all odds, he proved that he was a true Yinzer. He’s a true blue collar guy who worked his way up. He worked for some great coaches, but he went through the grind. It was one step and then he won. Then another step up he won. Another step up he won. That’s hardly heard of anywhere in college sports — football or basketball, volleyball, baseball, whatever. He had a history of winning. And, you know, he had a bunch of shit to him. He’s a Pittsburgh guy, and that’s what I really like. Maybe if he wasn’t a Pittsburgh guy, I might not have done it. But, you know, we had that connection.” 

Cuban has also made other multi-million dollar gifts to Indiana in the past, like a $5 million gift to create a sports media and technology center and a $6 million gift to Indiana’s club rugby team, per CBS Sports.

Where did Mark Cuban go to college?

Cuban graduated in 1981 from Indiana’s Kelley School of Business. He didn’t start his collegiate studies at Indiana, though, as he transferred to the Big Ten member from the University of Pittsburgh.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why is Mark Cuban at Peach Bowl?

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