Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) holds the trophy after the Hoosiers defeated Miami in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Jan. 19.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
The rise of Indiana football — which went 16-0 this season and won the national championship — became one of the most remarkable stories in college football history.
Now, Hoosier Nation is gobbling up anything and everything associated with that extraordinary title run.
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum announced today that the Indiana Hoosiers 2025 College Football National Champions Bobblehead Collection has become the best-selling college championship bobblehead series in its history.
The initial series was released Jan. 20 following Indiana’s 27-21 win over Miami in the CFP National Championship Game. The series features the first Fernando Mendoza Bobbleheads, as well as bobbleheads of Hoosier the Bison and a Coach Curt Cignetti Championship Bobblehead.
On Jan. 23, the Fernando Mendoza Indiana Hoosiers Diving Toughdown Bobblehead was unveiled and has become the best-selling bobblehead in the collection. The limited edition bobbleheads are being produced by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, an official licensee of Indiana University Bloomington and in conjunction with Fernando Mendoza and Coach Cignetti.
- On a football field-like base with actual turf and bearing his name, the Fernando Mendoza Diving Touchdown Bobblehead is positioned on a spring making the quarterback airborne as he crosses the goal line while clutching the football in his outstretched arms. The backing features a scoreboard which reads: “HOOSIERS TOUCHDOWN!” along with two IU logos in white lettering.
- With the Hoosiers clinging to a 17-14 lead in the 2026 CFP National Championship game, Mendoza delivered perhaps the biggest play in Indiana football history. Facing a fourth-and-5 from the Miami 12-yard line, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti called a timeout.
- Instead of going for a field-goal attempt to put his team up by six points, the second-year coach put the ball in the hands of his Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback. On a designed draw play, Mendoza ran up the middle, bounced off a handful of defenders, leaped from the 2-yard line and stretched out his hands to put the ball over the goal line while getting battered as he fell into the end zone.
- The touchdown with 9:18 remaining gave Indiana a two-possession lead and the Hoosiers held on for the victory.
- “That’s one thing about our team,” Mendoza said on the field after the game. “We’re always going to put it all on the line. I had to go airborne. I’d die for my team. Whatever they needed me to do.”
- Born in Boston, Mass., and raised in Miami, Florida, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Mendoza was a two-year starting quarterback for the California Golden Bears before announcing his decision to transfer to play for Indiana in Dec., 2024. In 16 games this season, Mendoza completed 273-of-379 passes (72.0%) for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns with only six interceptions. He also rushed for 280 yards and seven TDs. While the Hoosiers faced Miami on its home field, the game was a homecoming for Mendoza, who attended Christopher Columbus High School in Miami.
- In addition to becoming the first Indiana player to win the Heisman Trophy, Mendoza, a consensus All-American, also garnered other honors in an award-winning season. He was named first-team All-Big Ten and the Big Ten Most Valuable Player, along with being selected as the Big Ten Championship Game MVP. Selected as the AP College Football Player of the Year, Mendoza also won the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, and Davey O’Brien Award.
- “The excitement that we’ve seen from Indiana Hoosiers fans across the country is unlike anything we have ever seen for college championship bobbleheads over the past dozen years,” National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar said. “Indiana fans are certainly excited about these special edition bobbleheads commemorating one of the greatest and most improbable stories in sports history!”
- Previous Indiana bobbleheads include the original Hoosier the Bison Bobblehead, which was released when Indiana reinstated its mascot after a nearly 60-year hiatus, a Hoosier the Bison Motorcyle Bobblehead, a Coach Curt Cignetti Bobblehead, a Curt Cignetti Talking Bobblehead, a Top-25 Ranking Tracker Bobblehead and a Hoosier the Bison Welcome to Miami Bobblehead.
- The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Milwaukee, Wis.