It Will Never Get Better Than This | Defector

"You are a supporter of the University of Miami, and that taste of fireplace ash that coats your mouth has not yet gone away. You spent what could have been one of the best nights of your life watching your Cinderella get her arse kicked by a better Cinderella, which in and of itself is a odd enough notion, and now the rest of the nation is doing the bragging-rights slide all over your living room floor."

"You woke up today knowing, absolutely knowing, that this is the best moment Indiana football will ever have, and that everything after this is anticlimactic, maybe even disappointing. There is no better feeling in the world than victory without the burden of expectations, even if you were the pregame favorite, and Indiana's climb from Indianahood is so spectacularly improbable and free of historical context that it can never be topped."

A University of Miami supporter wakes with lingering bitterness after a painful one-score loss and the hollow consolation of a successful wager. The opposing victory stings more because the opponent's quarterback is admirable and relatable, leaving little outlet for hatred. Small comforts come from schadenfreude and attempts to diminish the opponent's moment. Indiana's rise is framed as a once-in-a-century triumph without historical precedent, creating an unmatched emotional high. Every future Indiana achievement will be compared to this peak and likely deemed lesser, in the same way storied franchise miracles remain forever definitive.

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