All opinions, columns and letters reflect the views of the individual writer and not necessarily those of the IDS or its staffers.
After Indiana football won the National Football Championship, why did fans line up for hours outside the local Dick’s Sporting Goods to meet Fernando Mendoza, or brave frigid temperatures to join a school-wide celebration on Memorial Field? They weren't on the field in Miami. Many of us on campus weren’t even at the game.
This is the magic of sports: they are unifying. Everyone on IU’s campus could share in rooting for the Hoosiers this football season. IU football has offered us a way to be more connected to the people around us.
According to Dr. Daniel Wann, a professor at Murray University who studies the psychology of being a sports fan, fandom feeds into basic psychological needs. People innately require a sense of belonging. It’s hard, Wann argues, to feel isolated when everyone around you is rooting for the same team. You have a natural link to fellow fans of your favorite teams, even if they’re complete strangers.
Just as talking about your favorite TV show, book or movie helps create connection, talking about your favorite sports team, attending games and watching with friends strengthens bonds and creates social networks. These types of connections can displace feelings of loneliness, replacing them with feelings of camaraderie.
IU football helped foster that camaraderie on campus. Across IU, tens of thousands of diverse students, faculty and staff were brought together by something to be excited about. It seemed the team’s constant success was brought up in each of my classes and in numerous conversations with friends. Even seeing posts on social media about recent football wins made me feel a sense of unity with each and every student at IU, and the fanbase beyond them.
Being a sports fan also creates a sense of identity. This is why IU’s national championship win feels so monumental to all of us: we feel we have a share in the victory. “We,” not “they,” won. IU football is part of how we see ourselves, and that means we care.
Texas A&M professor Dr. George Cunningham explains that when people play sports, they share a common goal as well as a “common outcome.” In other words, we hope to win together; then, we win together and we lose together.
This can apply to fans too, and the common outcome can be incredibly unifying. When we are all hoping for the same result, when we all share that result, we feel the impulse to set aside our differences and support one another.
The science says that the more someone identifies with a team, the more health benefits, like lower levels of loneliness and higher self-esteem, associated with belonging to a fan community they could enjoy. Identifying with a team brings all the psychological advantages of being immediately considered part of a group.
So, identifying with IU football means you are part of the largest phenomenon on campus. You are connected to, able to relate to, a wide variety of people. The Hoosier fan community helps fulfill the need for connection every human being experiences.
We also have a desire to be part of something that seems bigger than we are. A historic football season like this one fits the bill.
IU had a highly visible playoff run this year. It was a great story: the former “losingest team in history” soared above the college football ranks, delivering an undefeated season. What’s more, the Hoosiers accomplished this success as a team of self-proclaimed “underdogs” --- — players who were often looked over by other schools in the recruitment process.
IU had zero former five-star recruits on the roster. Fernando Mendoza had a two-star rating. Key playmakers like Elijah Sarratt and Aidan Fisher were unranked. Defensive back D'Angelo Ponds was rated three stars. But together, they made the perfect team. Head coach Cignetti was able to look past those rankings and see the potential.
All season, the team emphasized believing in themselves, believing they could win even if the world didn’t. Yes, it was unbelievable that a team could win a national championship in just two winning seasons. It was unbelievable that a 3-9 team in 2023 could turn around and go 11-2 in 2024. This captured fans’ hearts and imaginations.
Research shows that identifying with a sports team, even a losing one, is about loyalty. Allegiances don’t change easily. Instead, fans of losing teams look to something else to be excited about: the players.
This is what happened at IU. Fans began taking an interest in the players’ stories and wanted to see them succeed. They rallied behind Fernando, sang ABBA and showed up to his meet-and-greet in droves. They cheered Cignetti and his no-nonsense, brutal honesty. “I win. Google me,” became a phenomenon. That is why this season felt bigger: fans cared about seeing the players prove the world wrong.
The national championship win was tremendous to those players. In a post-game conference, Aiden Fisher described the season as “a special ride.” Mikail Kamara, defensive lineman for the Hoosiers, said “there’s just nothing else you could have dreamt of.”
As fans, we want to take part in those feelings as well. We want to believe we played any small role in the Hoosiers’ unprecedented success. We certainly were along for this season’s rollercoaster ride of excitement, nerves and energy.
The Hoosiers and Cignetti recognized the role our dedication played in the triumphant season. They celebrated IU fans for showing up to games and supporting the team. Bloomington events like the Jan. 24 Memorial Field championship celebration showed the Hoosiers wanted the fans to share in the win.
These events mattered: they made fans feel we contributed substantive help to the players. When the team we care about so much acknowledges our committed support, the feeling of belonging is, once again, fulfilled. There is power in the feeling that, this season, we were all in it together. Even if fans know we didn’t really do much of anything – we didn’t play in the game, dance with the Red Steppers or march with the Hundred --- the national title feels like a win for all of us. For IU.
That is a beautiful feeling.
Sasha Burton (she/her) is an elementary education major with minors in Spanish and English.
