Indiana’s dominance throughout the 2025-26 College Football Playoff has brought about comparisons to another dominant Playoff run.
But the Hoosiers have to cap their run with a national championship to enter the conversation alongside 2019 LSU. Those Tigers are widely regarded as one of the greatest teams of all time. In some circles, that team is the greatest team of all time.
How would this Indiana team fare in a hypothetical matchup? On3’s J.D. PicKell asked IU wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. that exact question a media event on Saturday. Cooper, of course, sided with the Hoosiers.
“That’s hard,” Cooper began. “I would say 24-21, Indiana.”
Indiana has won low-scoring games this season. The Hoosiers won a 20-15 game at Iowa earlier this year. They beat Ohio State 13-10 in the Big Ten Championship. The 2019 Tigers were never dragged into such a fight.
They scored at least 36 points in all but one game during their sparkling title run. Auburn, then ranked ninth in the country, fought to a 23-20 defeat at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. That was also one of just two games all season that were decided by single-digit points.
That year, LSU had a 5,671-yard passer who also managed to throw 60 touchdowns. LSU had a 1,000-yard rusher. LSU had 2 1,000-yard receivers. It also had a third receiver who caught 13 touchdown passes.
The 2019 Tiger offense was borderline unstoppable. That would make for quite a fight with an Indiana defense that has shut down just about every team it has faced this season.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
