While some Indiana football fans are traveling to Miami for the Hoosiers' matchup in the College Football Playoff National Championship game on Monday night, many are sticking around Bloomington for game day. The Indiana Daily Student photographers are capturing the lead up to the big game. Read more live updates, scenes and news from Bloomington here.
Students celebrate Indiana football's College Football Playoff National Championship win at 10:39 p.m. Jan. 19, 2026, at Sample Gates in Bloomington. Upstairs erupted with cheers at the end of the game.
An IU fan jumps from the Jimmy John's awning after Indiana’s College Football Playoff National Championship win at 11:46 p.m. Jan. 19, 2026, on Kirkwood Avenue in Bloomington. The man was hoisted up and caught by a group on the ground below.
A couch fire is extinguished after Indiana football's College Football Playoff National Championship win at 12:30 a.m. Jan. 20, 2026, on Dunn Street in Bloomington. Indiana State Police managed the crowd around the fire as it was extinguished.
Students crowd a burning couch after Indiana football's College Football Playoff National Championship win at 12:24 a.m. Jan. 20, 2026, on Kirkwood Avenue and Dunn Street in Bloomington. The Bloomington Fire Department put the fire out.
Students and community members fill Kirkwood Avenue on Jan. 19, 2026, in Bloomington after Indiana football's victory the College Football Playoff National Championship. Thousands filled the street after game.
Students and community members fill Kirkwood Avenue on Jan. 19, 2026, after Indiana wins the College Football Playoff National Championship. Some fans tried climbing poles and street signs.
A young Indiana fan anxiously watches the Hoosiers battle their way to becoming national champions Jan. 19, 2026, in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The Hoosiers had a perfect season going 16-0.
Indiana fans hug in celebration as the Hoosiers become the 2026 College Football National Champions on Jan. 19, 2026, in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. Assembly Hall was filled with fans, old and young, cheering on their team.
Event services employee Bob Price waits to hand out College Football Playoff championship game rally towels to IU students and fans on Jan. 19, 2026, in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. Price has worked part-time for IU Events Services for the last six years.
Indiana football fan Keisha Tompkins cries as the Hoosiers become 2026 College Football Playoff National Champions on Jan. 19, 2026, in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. Tompkins cheered on the team for the last 29 years every game, win or loss.
The Buskirk-Chumley Theater sign announces the College Football Playoff National Championship watch party at 9:30 p.m. Jan. 19, 2026, on Kirkwood Avenue in Bloomington. The viewing was preceded by the city's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration.
A packed crowd watches the College Football Playoff National Championship Game at 9:42 p.m. Jan. 19, 2026, inside BuffaLouie’s in Bloomington. At halftime, the restaurant was at full capacity.
A stressed fan, Cameron Agnew, covers her face with her towel on Jan 19, 2026 in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. She and others attended the watch party for the championship game against University of Miami in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Elizabeth Daniels and Brynn Hebblethwaite hug Jan. 19, 2026, in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. They were cheering for the Hoosiers' touchdown in the second half of the championship game.
An Indiana fan pumps his fist in the air Jan. 19, 2026, in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. He cheered as the Hoosiers got their first touchdown of the game.
IU freshmen Emma Rutledge (left) and Holly Wilkerson (right) watch the game at 9:16 p.m. Jan. 19, 2026, inside the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in Bloomington. They stumbled upon the event after walking down Kirkwood Avenue and seeing people in IU shirts enter the theater.
Roman Kopel waves his flag with the rest of the crowd Jan. 19, 2026, in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. Kopel celebrated during the first quarter of the Hoosiers' national championship game against University of Miami.
The crowd cheers Jan. 19, 2026, in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The Hoosiers had just inched a few yards closer to their first field goal during the first quarter of the game.
A large crowd of Hoosiers sit in anticipation Jan. 19, 2026, in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. Many of the fans stood in line outside the building for hours before the event.
A group chats outside Kilroy’s on Kirkwood at 6:31 p.m. Jan. 19, 2026, on Kirkwood Avenue in Bloomington. Though the Upstairs Pub and Nick’s had a line beginning the night before, the line at Kilroy’s did not start until early Monday morning.
The Upstairs Pub buzzes at 6:27 p.m. Jan. 19, 2026, on Kirkwood Avenue in Bloomington. Doors opened at 11 a.m. for the 7:30 p.m. College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
IU fans crowd The Upstairs Pub's sports bar at 6:09 p.m. Jan. 19, 2026, inside the Upstairs Pub in Bloomington. OneBuzz named Upstairs the best college bar in the country in 2025.
Bargoers watch a bartender make an AMF drink at 6:14 p.m. Jan. 19, 2026, inside the Upstairs Pub in Bloomington. There was still a line outside Upstairs around 6:20 p.m., more than 10 hours since the lines first started at 8 p.m. the night before.
Lucy-Kate Pace, 4, is pictured Jan. 19, 2026, in her Indiana University cheerleader outfit at the Vault Pub. Pace was the only child at the restaurant to watch the game.
Fifth-year senior Tre Candelaria (left) and alumna Meleena Strukel play Battleship at 1:42 a.m. Jan. 19, 2026, outside Brothers Bar & Grill in Bloomington. They planned to camp outside of the Upstairs Pub, but moved to Brothers when they saw the line.
People sit in line just after 1 a.m. Jan. 19, 2026, outside Nick’s English Hut on Kirkwood Avenue in Bloomington. Most people planned on arriving in the early morning, but rushed to stake out a spot the night before when they heard others were arriving sooner.
Empty bottles and coffee cups are strewn on the ground at 9:32 a.m. Jan. 19, 2026, outside Nick’s English Hut on Kirkwood Avenue in Bloomington. Spilled drinks froze to slush due to the below-freezing temperatures.
IU senior Todd Freifeld laughs at 9:25 a.m. Jan. 19, 2026, outside the Upstairs Pub on Kirkwood Avenue in Bloomington. Freifeld and his friends arrived at 9 p.m. Sunday night and took turns going home to rest during the night.
Seniors Cristina Liberto (left) and Danielle Furman enter Brothers Bar & Grill at 11:21 a.m. Jan. 19, 2026, on Walnut Avenue in Bloomington. The group was the first to get in line at Brothers.
Bridget O'Brien paints Kilroy's on Kirkwood on Jan. 19, 2026, in Bloomington. O'Brien, a Master of Fine Arts student, started the impromptu project after she couldn’t get into the bars.
People wait in line two hours before kickoff of the College Football Playoffs National Championship on Jan. 19, 2026, on Kirkwood Avenue in Bloomington. The line for the Upstairs Pub continued to extend as the start of the game approached.
