- - Indiana vs. Alabama live updates, score: Follow College Football Playoff action

Yahoo Sports Staff January 2, 2026 at 1:51 AM

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Welcome to college football in 2025. Indiana is the No. 1 team in the country and favored by a touchdown over No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl, which serves as a College Football Playoff quarterfinal.

And in a game that features the Heisman winner, not one person is surprised that player, QB Fernando Mendoza, plays for the Hoosiers and not the Crimson Tide.

Here’s how to watch all the College Football Playoff games (scroll for live updates).

No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 9 Alabama (4 p.m., ESPN)

It can’t be said often enough how Indiana made such a leap in Curt Cignetti’s first year and then got even better in his second year at the school. After a playoff appearance in 2024, Indiana simply beat everyone on its schedule in 2025.

Alabama was dominated by Georgia in the SEC title game and carried over that performance into the first 20 minutes of their first-round game at Oklahoma. But a blocked punt and a pick-6 got Alabama right back into things and the Tide rolled to a 34-24 win over the Sooners.

By now, everyone knows Alabama can’t run the ball. Indiana, meanwhile, is incredibly good against the pass. Just how much can Indiana dare Alabama to attempt to run the ball?

Opposing QBs have thrown for 2,334 yards against the Hoosiers and tallied just seven touchdowns. Remarkably, those seven touchdowns have come over seven different games. Not one quarterback has thrown for multiple TDs against Indiana in 2025.

Alabama QB Ty Simpson is going to have to break that streak for Alabama to pull the upset. If he can have a big game, Alabama should at least hang around.

Coming soon

LIVE COVERAGE BEGINSFriday, January 2, 2026 at 6:00 AM GMT+8Follow along as the Yahoo Sports team breaks down all the action at the Rose Bowl.

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Source: “AOL Sports”