Miami and Indiana are atop college football, but their NFL Draft histories couldn’t be further apart
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Top-seeded Indiana may be favored by 8.5 points against No. 10 seed Miami in the College Football Playoff national championship Monday, but when it comes to NFL pedigree, the ledger tilts heavily toward the Hurricanes.
The last time the Hoosiers had a first-round draft selection, the NFL had 28 teams, Indiana offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan was 4 years old, and Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis had just finished his freshman season at Miami. Way back in 1994, Hoosiers receiver Thomas Lewis was drafted No. 24 by the New York Giants. He played four seasons, started 15 games and scored five touchdowns as a pro.
Indiana’s Lewis now is the answer to an obscure trivia question, one likely to be recycled numerous times through the run-up to April’s NFL Draft, when Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza may go No. 1. But Mendoza’s selection would give Indiana just a fraction of the high-level NFL Draft picks that his team’s opponent can claim.
Miami has 40 first-round picks since Indiana’s Lewis, including 2025’s No. 1 pick, Cam Ward. Five of those first-round selections since 1995 have earned induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Warren Sapp, Edgerrin James and Andre Johnson. Many of those players remain fixtures on Miami sidelines decades after their careers concluded. Lewis and James served as the Hurricanes’ honorary captains against Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl, and nobody represents the Miami mystique like receiver Michael Irvin — a first-round pick in 1988 and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee in 2007.
“I always looked up to Ray Lewis, and he was my favorite linebacker growing up,” Miami quarterback Carson Beck told reporters before the Fiesta Bowl. “I literally just look at him and just shake his hand, and he introduced himself, and then he’s like, ‘Yo, go win us the ballgame.’ And I was like … we literally have to go score. I can’t let this dude down.”
No school has put together a run of NFL talent over a four-year period like “The U” from 2001 through 2004. The Hurricanes had 19 first-rounders, including Johnson and Reed, plus dozens of other Pro Bowl honorees and NFL mainstays such as Sean Taylor, Vince Wilfork, Jeremy Shockey, Bryant McKinnie and Jonathan Vilma. Miami’s NFL alumni pride rivals that of any other university.
Ray Lewis also here. A lot of Miami greatness. pic.twitter.com/iu4XUy11gV
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) December 31, 2025
When NBC began airing player introductions during “Sunday Night Football,” most chose to rep their alma mater by name. But the former Hurricanes’ endorsement comes with a distinct but instantly recognizable label.
“Denzel Perryman … The U.”
“Calais Campbell … The U.”
“Greg Olsen … The U.”
“David Njoku … all about The U.”
Since the AFL-NFL merger for the 1967 draft, 65 Hurricanes have become first-rounders. The Hurricanes have 11 players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “The U” is synonymous with NFL success.
Indiana doesn’t compare in any fashion. Since the AFL-NFL combined draft in 1967, the Hoosiers have had 95 players drafted to Miami’s 313. Only six Indiana players have become first-rounders in that time frame, and the school’s last top-five pick was in 1966.
Indiana holds the longest drought without a first-round pick by 14 years of any long-term Power 5 school, setting aside recent ACC addition SMU (1986). That dubious streak is guaranteed to end not only with Mendoza’s selection but also perhaps with other prospects such as receivers Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. or offensive tackle Carter Smith. Based on their recent success, the Hoosiers no longer can be passed over by NFL evaluators.
Indiana has produced one Pro Football Hall of Famer in former Philadelphia Eagles end Pete Pihos. The key performer in Indiana’s only other outright Big Ten title in 1945, Pihos became a six-time All-Pro over nine seasons. He also missed a year of football to serve in the Army during World War II.
No mention of Indiana’s NFL past would be complete without mentioning George Taliaferro. A College Football Hall of Fame running back, Taliaferro became the first Black player drafted in NFL history. The Chicago Bears selected him in the 13th round in 1948, and he played seven NFL seasons. Also, former Hoosiers quarterback Antwaan Randle El turned into a productive NFL receiver and threw a touchdown pass in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl XL victory against Seattle.
But “The U” is at a different level. Miami produced former Raiders stalwarts such as center Jim Otto in the 1960s and linebacker Ted Hendricks in the 1970s and 1980s. Quarterback Jim Kelly guided Buffalo to four straight Super Bowl appearances in the early 1990s, and Seattle defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy dominated the 1990s. Hall of Fame return man Devin Hester became the only player to take the Super Bowl’s opening kickoff back for a touchdown while with the Chicago Bears. Hester accomplished that feat at the stadium that just happens to be hosting the CFP championship on Monday. Yes, the same place the Hurricanes — and their storied NFL alums — call home.
