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Lil Uzi Vert witnessed history on Monday night (Jan. 19) as they watched the Indiana University Hoosiers capture the school’s first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship.
After receiving a personal invite from IU’s quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who said Uzi was his favorite rapper, the Philly native made sure to be on the sidelines of Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium, cheering on the Hoosiers in a No. 15 jersey repping the Heisman winner.
“Lil Uzi Vert, if we make the national championship in Miami, this is a formal invitation,” Mendoza said during an interview in December. “I don’t have extra tickets because it’s gonna be in Miami, but I will find some way and somehow to invite you.”
Uzi pulled up with girlfriend JT, a Miami native who was rooting for the opposing Hurricanes.
“It’s like a dream that I didn’t have, and then I had it,” LUV explained to Joe Cronin pre-game when asked about how the unlikely relationship with Mendoza came to be. “Then it became true. So it was my dream before my dream even happened. Shout out, Mendoza.”
In typical Lil Uzi fashion, the Philly rapper stole the show on the sideline. They were peppered with questions about his ties to the state of Indiana and IU, while others wondered about their friendship with Fernando Mendoza.
In another interview, Uzi made sure to plug their genre-blending “What You Saying” hit, which sits at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Mendoza ended up throwing for 186 yards for IU in the win over the Miami Hurricanes, 27-21. With about nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, Mendoza’s improbable 12-yard highlight dash for a touchdown on fourth down proved to be the turning point of the game, while extending IU’s lead to 10.
Lil Uzi Vert has prided themselves on not following anyone on Instagram, while compiling over 16 million followers, but they made an exception for Mendoza, who’s now the only account they follow on IG after the Heisman Trophy winner’s championship performance.
