Indiana star claims Hoosiers would beat 2019 LSU: Just how right or wrong is he?

College football fans will tune in on Monday night to see which of this season's underdog stories will get its happy ending.

Will longtime Big Ten bottom-feeder Indiana prove last season's CFP appearance wasn't a fluke and cap the first 16-0 season since the 19th century with a national title? Or will Miami capitalize on home-field advantage and end its 25-year championship drought?

We'll have to wait to find out on the field. But before then, one Hoosier star is already declaring his team better than a squad many believe is the greatest team in recent memory. Wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. was asked on media row Saturday what the score of a fantasy matchup between 2025 Indiana and 2019 LSU would look like.

"I would say 24-21 Indiana," Cooper told On3's JD PicKell. That, of course, sparked discourse online and prompted many to claim Indiana just jinxed itself for Monday night.

Tale of the tape: Could 2025 Indiana actually beat 2019 LSU?

At first glance, Cooper's prediction seems like a bafflingly low-scoring game regardless of who the winner is.

In 2019, undefeated LSU was averaging 47.8 points per game entering the then-four-team CFP. The Tigers outscored their playoff opponents (No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 3 Clemson) 105-53 behind the talents of eventual NFL stars like quarterback Joe Burrow, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire and wideouts Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson.

Indiana entered this year's 12-team playoff also undefeated, averaging 41.9 points per game, and has outscored its playoff opponents to this point (No. 9 Alabama and No. 5 Oregon) 94-25. QB Fernando Mendoza and Burrow have one thing in common in that they're both Heisman Trophy winners, and the former looks primed to join the latter as the No. 1 overall selection in the draft.

Where the hypothetical matchup would be won is on defense, and that's why Cooper may have (intentionally or unintentionally) lowered the expected point total. LSU's defense, which featured future NFL stars Patrick Queen, Derek Stingley Jr. and Grant Delpit, held opponents to an average of 21.2 points per game during the regular season (26.5 in the CFP) compared to 10.8 points per game for Indiana's defense (12.5 in the CFP).

So, it's entirely possible from a statistical point of view that the Hoosiers would hold LSU's Hall of Fame-worthy offense to just three touchdowns and eke out a last-minute field goal for the win. The one thing we can't simulate is which of the "it factors" each of these teams possess would come out on top in 50-50 situations and clutch moments.

Both Mendoza and Burrow are calm and cool under pressure, seemingly unfazed and able to find their guys wide open downfield when coverage slips up just enough. But let's not forget Burrow's numbers were out of this world in a stacked SEC, while Mendoza benefitted from a down year in the Big Ten.

Burrow had over 3,300 more passing yards,19 more touchdowns and completed 3.3 percent more of his passes than Mendoza, earning a sky-high 202.0 passer rating in 2019. Mendoza also doesn't have the automatic superstar talent on offense that Burrow had, which may actually be a point in the Hoosiers' favor depending on how you view it.

The bottom line is, Cooper's prediction isn't as far out as many are making it out to be. Until someone figures out how to run this specific simulation in EA Sports College Football 26, we'll just be arguing into the ether about what would arguably the greatest hypothetical game in the sport's history.