College Football Playoff bracket: Indiana forcing Selection Committee's hand at 10-0

The amount of undefeated teams left in college football is shrinking by the week. For better or worse, the Indiana Hoosiers are among the lucky few at 10-0. While it has been a fun story to watch from afar covering this sport, we have to wonder if they have mostly taken care of a rather soft schedule. They nearly lost to Michigan at home last week, and the Wolverines might not even get to a bowl game.

Regardless, I do not think we live in a world where a one-loss Big Ten or SEC team gets left out of the expanded College Football Playoff, especially when there are so many other teams with multiple defeats on the year. To date, Indiana still does not have one. While the Selection Committee did have the Hoosiers comfortably into the playoff field last week, I wonder if they will still take them seriously.

Heading into Week 12, here is what I believe would be the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket.

1. Oregon Ducks: 10-0 (Projected Big Ten champion)
2. Texas Longhorns: 8-1 (Projected SEC champion)
3. BYU Cougars: 9-0 (Projected Big 12 champion)
4. SMU Mustangs: 8-1 (Projected ACC champion)
5. Ohio State Buckeyes: 8-1 (Projected Big Ten runner-up)
6. Penn State Nittany Lions: 8-1 (Projected Big Ten at-large)
7. Tennessee Volunteers: 8-1 (Projected SEC runner-up)
8. Indiana Hoosiers: 10-0 (Projected Big Ten at-large)
9. Alabama Crimson Tide: 7-2 (Projected SEC at-large)
10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 8-1 (Projected national independent at-large)
11. Ole Miss Rebels: 8-2 (Projected SEC at-large)
12. Boise State Broncos: 8-1 (Projected Mountain West/Group of Five champion)

And for even more transparency, these would be the first four teams I would have out after Week 11.

• 13. Miami Hurricanes: 9-1 (Projected ACC runner-up)
• 14. Georgia Bulldogs: 7-2 (SEC)
• 15. Texas A&M Aggies: 7-2 (SEC)
• 16. Colorado Buffaloes: 7-2 (Projected Big 12 runner-up)

Indiana's pathway into the playoff is incredibly clear, but we have a lot to ponder ahead of the showdown with Ohio State in two weeks.

Indiana Hoosiers are great, but gumming up College Football Playoff field

The Hoosiers' greatest season ever should be rewarded as such with a trip to the playoff, and it probably will be. Their weak resume is still getting better by the week. What is paramount for the Hoosiers to get in is this: They must not get blown out by Ohio State in two weeks, they must wipe the floor with Purdue to end the year and if they get to Indianapolis, they must play respectable football.

The Michigan win is their biggest helmet win in some capacities, but this year's Wolverines team is not the least bit good. Indiana and fellow playoff contender Texas beat them, but it is not the resume booster we thought it would be at the start of the season. Indiana has shown an ability to skull-drag the opposition. While I am picking them to lose to Ohio State, it will be the manner in which they lose that decides the team’s fate.

What seems to be happening right before our very eyes is the SEC beating itself up into a pulp, whereas the upper middle of the Big Ten is not showing up as it should. Where is the fifth-best team in the Big Ten to make things interesting? If we have to put our faith in teams like Iowa and Minnesota to be those tough obstacles like South Carolina and Texas A&M are in the SEC, we are so very screwed.

I would say this with regards to Indiana. I want them to make the playoff because I am a writer who is a sucker for the narrative. This has been a fun team to watch and to root for from afar. However, I am incredibly reluctant to think IU can actually win a playoff game because the Hoosiers simply do not have the depth to keep pace with the big bad uglies at the top of the Big Ten and SEC this season.

While I will not go as far as to say Indiana would be bid-stealing, because they will have earned their way into the playoff either as the Big Ten champion or probably as an at-large team, I question if they will past the eye test vs. quality competition. Simply put, this team might be able to win a game in the playoff this year, which would be a huge accomplishment, but Indiana is not built to win it all.

Ultimately, the Selection Committee and other long-term doubters like myself need to keep our mouths shut and trust the process of putting the five highest-ranked conference champions and seven best at-large teams into the playoff. Indiana is doing exactly what it needs to do to make the playoff, but we must wonder if we will feel the same about them if they get outclassed by Ohio State.

For now, I am comfortably keeping Indiana in the playoff picture because they have earned their keep.