Imagine playing for a national championship on your home field. For most, that's a dream. For Miami, it's Monday.
Every year, the College Football Playoff National Championship game rotates among a handful of host sites. One such site is Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, which hosted the 2021 CFP Championship Game between Alabama and Ohio State. This year marked a return to the front of the rotation for Hard Rock -- just in time for the Hurricanes, who are Hard Rock's collegiate occupants in the fall -- to make their first national title game in just over 20 years.
While a team playing a national championship game at its home stadium is unprecedented in FBS history, it won't be the first time a title game has had a de facto "home" team. This year will mark the ninth national championship of the BCS and playoff eras in which one of the competing squads will be from the same state as the title matchup host.
In fact, LSU has turned in-state championship game trips into something of a habit. Every one of the school's title game appearances since the dawn of the championship game era has come in years when said championship was being held at the Superdome in New Orleans. In turn, four of the five years when the Superdome has hosted the national championship game since the start of the BCS era have featured LSU as one of the participating teams.
In-state teams hold an even 4-4 record in such title games. Will Miami's even more local home-field advantage provide the boost needed to break the tie in favor of local squads? Here's how each of the teams to have played in a BCS or playoff championship game in their home state have fared.
LSU, 2020, New Orleans
Result: 42-25 LSU win
The final destination for one of the most iconic teams in recent college football history was just up the road from campus. The final game the Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson-led Tigers played in their undefeated 2019 campaign came at the then-Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, roughly an 80-mile jaunt southwest on Interstate 10 from LSU's Baton Rouge campus.
The title game's proximity to campus produced a memorable line in a hype video released by the school ahead of the matchup: "It's a 60-minute drive for a 60-minute game."
Georgia, 2018, Atlanta
Result: 26-23 Alabama win
The Bulldogs' first quest under coach Kirby Smart to win the program's first national title in decades came in Smart's second season, and came up ever-so-short. Playing at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, some 70 miles west of Georgia's Samford Stadium, a 41-yard walk-off touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa to DeVonta Smith lifted the Crimson Tide to an overtime victory.
LSU, 2012, New Orleans
Result: 21-0 Alabama win
The 2018 championship wasn't the first time Alabama sent a championship opponent playing in its home state back to campus disappointed -- the Crimson Tide also came out on top during the 2012 BCS national championship game against LSU in New Orleans. The Tigers had bested Alabama in a 9-6 overtime slugfest earlier in the season, but the title game rematch wasn't especially close. The Crimson Tide outgained LSU 384-92, slowly but surely pulling away thanks in large part to five field goals by kicker Jeremy Shelley.
Florida, 2009, Miami Gardens, Florida
Result: 24-14 Florida win
Gainesville, Florida, to then-Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens isn't as easy a drive as Baton Rouge to New Orleans or Athens to Atlanta, but any Gators fans that made the trek for the 2009 BCS national championship would have headed back north happy.
Tim Tebow threw for a pair of touchdowns as Florida dispatched Oklahoma 24-14, with Tebow doing the gator chomp as the Gators closed out the win for the school's second title in three years.
LSU, 2008, New Orleans
Result: 38-24 LSU win
Things didn't start off too strong for the Tigers in the 2008 national championship game -- Ohio State broke off a 65-yard touchdown run on the game's first drive, before tacking on a field goal on its next possession to build a quick 10-0 lead.
LSU eventually found its groove, though, reaching the end zone three times on three second quarter drives to enter halftime up 24-10. The Tigers would finish the job in the second half, with Matt Flynn throwing his third and fourth touchdown passes to give LSU a 38-24 victory and send the in-state faithful home happy.
USC, 2006, Pasadena, California
It's one thing to play for a national title in your traditional home stadium. It's another to play for a national title in your cross-town rival's home stadium, which is what USC did in its 2006 title bout against Texas.
Remembered fondly as one of the best college football games of all time, the matchup saw two star-studded squads trading blows before the Longhorns completed a memorable comeback in the final few minutes. Vince Young scampered into the end zone for the game-winning score to stop the Trojans just 19 seconds short of a 35th consecutive win and a third straight national title.
LSU, 2004, New Orleans
Result: 21-14 LSU win
The Tigers' first national title game experience in the Bayou State was a winning one, with LSU securing its first national championship of the BCS era -- and the school's first national title in over four decades.
A 20-yard pick-six by defensive end Marcus Spears was critical in the low-scoring game, putting the Tigers ahead 21-7 with less than a minute played in the second half. LSU's stout defense would keep Oklahoma at bay from there, walking out 21-14 winners.
Florida State, 2001, Miami
Result: 13-2 Oklahoma win
Florida State's trip to then-Pro Player Stadium for the 2001 national championship game wasn't much in the way of a positive experience for the "home" team.
The defending national champion Seminoles were effectively shut out. Florida State's only points came with just under a minute remaining in the game when a high snap flew over Oklahoma punter Jeff Ferguson's head. Ferguson proceeded to surrender himself in his own end zone for a safety to make the final score 13-2.