Indiana’s Atlanta takeover shows why more playoff games need to be on campus

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ATLANTA — They came from Bloomington wearing their crimson, and from Indianapolis and Evansville, too. Heck, if anyone from French Lick or Toad Hop or Slabtown attended the University of Indiana, they were probably at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday night too, reveling in the program-defining beatdown that was the 2026 Peach Bowl.

The announced attendance at Indiana’s 56-22 victory over Oregon on Friday night was 75,604, and it sure seemed like at least 74,000 of them were cheering for the Hoosiers. Aside from a thin wedge near the tunnel to the Oregon locker room, virtually the entire circumference of the stadium was crimson-clad and joining in deafening “Hoo-hoo-hoo-Hoosiers!” chants all night long.

“I thought it was just the red seats,” Oregon quarterback Dante Moore sighed after the game, “but it was Indiana fans.”

He wasn’t wrong. Indiana fans covered Atlanta in a crimson tide — the other school that employs that term lost the use of it last week in Pasadena — and the result was glorious to behold. From the airport to the stadium, in Waffle Houses and along Peachtrees, Indiana fans swarmed over the city, delirious at the prospect of cheering their team on to a national championship berth.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium has hosted a Super Bowl, national championship games and a Metallica concert, but Friday night might have topped them all decibel-wise. The assembled crowd was already at jet-engine volume to start the game, and then D’Angelo Ponds’ pick-six on the game’s very first play nearly blew the retractable roof off the joint.

“The crowd had a fantastic impact,” Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza said. “Shout out to Hoosier Nation for being here.”

He then recounted the earlier road matchup between these two teams. “We played at Autzen Stadium Week Five. I believe I probably had five or six pre-snap penalties (due to the crowd noise).”

“Seven,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti interjected.

“Seven pre-snap penalties,” Mendoza laughed. “That’s huge. Especially, that’s one of the ways that you’re able to lose a game. Not having to go on silent count because of Hoosier Nation being here — and making them go on silent count — is a huge aspect of the game and the offensive operation that's not talked about enough.” Earlier, Moore had noted that the Ducks had to abandon their verbal signals because of the noise in the stadium.

“Making the other team go on silent count,” Mendoza said, “I mean, that might as well account for some points.” Heck, everything else did for Indiana.

The night was, for Indiana, a spectacular environment — Bloomington South, Hoosier meets Chattahoochee. And that’s surely due to the fact that up until a few months ago, no one in human history had ever positively connected the words “Indiana football” and “national championship” in the same sentence. Indiana fans will travel for the extent of this year’s playoffs, yes, but how many more seasons will they do this?

Want proof? Remember that little sliver of green and yellow? Oregon hasn’t won a national championship yet, true, but its fans have grown accustomed to postseason appearances. Had the Ducks reached the title game, it’s likely the Oregon faithful would have made up a larger percentage of the audience … but then, that’s really the problem here, isn’t it? Forcing a team’s fans to travel to three or even four neutral site games in the course of one playoff is an awful lot to ask of a fanbase.

Friday night’s game provided yet another reason why as many playoff games as possible ought to be on campus, not in NFL stadiums. The vibe at MBS was dramatically different from any NFL game — up to and including the Super Bowl — that’s been held there, but it’s standard volume, intensity and juice for a Power 4 college football home game. And if you don’t think the pulse of a stadium has an impact on the home viewing experience too, well, you’ve clearly forgotten what it was like to watch empty-stadium games in the COVID era.

Opinions solicited from a range of giddy post-victory Indiana fans were split on whether a semi-final game ought to be at a neutral — or, in this case, “neutral” — site. “I don’t know, it’s fun to travel,” said IU alum Karen Smith of Cincinnati as she waited for Mendoza to walk close by for an ESPN appearance.

“Bloomington is just special,” countered Sally Berghoff of Chicago, who was attending the game with nearly a dozen fellow family members, all IU alumni. “Memorial Stadium needs a little work, but we would sell it out.”

Money rules all in college football, of course, and money dictates that the games ought to go to the nation’s premier sporting cathedrals. But at the very least, every higher seed deserves one home playoff game, and two would be even better. Give the sponsors their airtime, the conference fat cats their suites, and the alumni their home game, and everyone goes away happier. Well, unless you’re Oregon in this scenario.

The Indiana experience in Atlanta was remarkable in its intensity and exuberance on Friday night. That ought to be the standard at every possible playoff game from here on out.