Mark Cuban Thinks Indiana’s National Championship Is the Embodiment of “the American Dream”

Of all the people celebrating Indiana University’s unexpected college-football championship Monday night, Mark Cuban is the most prominent. (Well, after John Mellencamp.) A graduate of the business school, the Texas billionaire has been pouring money into Iu since at least 2015, when he contributed $5 million to start a campus sports broadcasting center where much of the footage from Iu games gets edited.

With the Hoosiers going from the bottom of the barrel to the top of the heap, the two-season arc was downright cinematic — ESPN commentator Kirk Herbstreit called it “a movie” — an idea Cuban seconds. He also believes the victory means something for the country at large at a time when college sports has become professionalized and celebritized at an astounding rate.

The Hollywood Reporter talked to Cuban in Miami just before he went to the national championship game at Hard Rock Stadium. He reflected on the team, AI,…