What the College Football Playoff committee thinks of Indiana
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana heard its name called during the first College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday night. The undefeated Hoosiers made the initial 12-team bracket as the No. 9 seed in the first prediction for December and January’s playoff games.
While Tuesday’s rankings are only the first of six committee lists — with the final and official one coming Sunday, Dec. 8 — the Hoosiers have clearly made a big impression on the 13-member group of athletic directors, former college coaches, players and journalists.
Indiana remains one of only five undefeated teams left in the FBS after dominating their way through the first nine games on the schedule. Beating opponents by 33.9 points a game makes a strong case for the Hoosiers’ eye test, but their strength of schedule isn’t in Indiana’s favor.
The Hoosiers’ schedule is ranked 103rd overall, featuring no ranked opponents besides No. 2 Ohio State coming up on Nov. 23 in Columbus. That was a consideration for the committee, but College Football Playoff committee chair and Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said they could not overlook the pure domination head coach Curt Cignetti and his team have had so far this season.
“Their strength of schedule was not very high in comparison to some others, but the way that they have played in those games and the dominance that they have shown in those games, winning by an average of 33 points a game, has been really impressive to the committee. So we couldn’t ignore that,” Manuel said.
“The only game they’ve been behind was last week against Michigan State by 10, and they came back and I believe went on a 47-point run to win that game,” Manuel added. “Very impressive team, well-coached by Curt Cignetti. They are just a formidable opponent. That’s what we saw.”
The Hoosiers have three games left before the final College Football Playoff rankings are released. Indiana hosts Michigan this Saturday in Memorial Stadium before heading to battle the Buckeyes and finally closing out the season with the Old Oaken Bucket game against Purdue in Bloomington.