Cignetti gives candid response to question about IU’s playoff hopes
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WISH) — Indiana took their first loss of the season on Saturday, losing on the road against Ohio State 38-15.
Indiana’s resume for the College Football Playoff has been a point of contention. They had won all of their games up until Saturday, but they have not beaten a top-25 team and have only beaten one team that has reached bowl eligibility (Washington).
Ohio State was the only top-25 team that Indiana had on its schedule, and they lost by 23 points.
After the game, IU head coach Curt Cignetti was asked if he thinks that Indiana should be one of the 12 teams in the playoff.
“Is that a serious question?” Cignetti said. “I’m not even going to answer that one. The answer is so obvious.”
Cignetti winked and nodded afterwards, indicating he thinks Indiana should definitely be in the playoff.
Indiana started off hot against the Buckeyes, forcing them into a three-and-out in their first possession. Indiana followed that up with a touchdown drive of their own.
Then, the momentum shifted. Cignetti credited the momentum shift to a false start call that Indiana got, which Cignetti thinks the officials got wrong.
Ohio State rattled off 31 unanswered points after that.
“We didn’t handle the noise well,” Cignetti said. “We just didn’t. They’re an excellent football team. I didn’t think we played our best game today, but I think a big part of that was because of them.”
Cignetti was asked a similar question about whether or not Indiana had proven enough to be included in the first expanded playoff earlier in his post game press conference.
“I don’t make those decisions,” Cignetti said. “I think probably more important right now, I focus on our next game, big in-state rival against Purdue.”
IU (10-1) has one more game on its schedule. They’ll play Purdue (1-10) at Memorial Stadium for Old Oaken Bucket on Saturday, November 30. Indiana has not beaten Purdue since 2019.