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College Football Playoff bracket: Indiana had the perfect Saturday, minus their loss

The sheer amount of chaos that happened last Saturday is enough to keep Indiana in the playoff.
ByJohn Buhler|
Ke'Shawn Williams, Sonny Styles, Indiana Hoosiers, Ohio State Buckeyes
Ke'Shawn Williams, Sonny Styles, Indiana Hoosiers, Ohio State Buckeyes | Jason Mowry/GettyImages

As it turns out, Indiana could technically afford a multi-score loss to Ohio State. The Hoosiers suffered their first defeat of the season to the Buckeyes in a manner most of us outside of Bloomington expected would happen. Indiana needed to play an A-minus game vs. Ohio State, and the Hoosiers played a B. Ohio State played a B-plus game, which was way more than enough to win.

In other years, that may have been enough to knock Indiana's otherwise weak resume out of serious College Football Playoff consideration. However, a boatload of teams also lost on Saturday. Those would include Alabama, Army, BYU, Colorado, Ole Miss and Texas A&M. Teams like Boise State, Iowa State and Penn State nearly lost as well. This all means that Indiana will be in with a win over Purdue.

If you want proof of this notion, let's take a look at where the latest AP Top 25 Poll has Indiana ranked.

  1. Oregon Ducks (11-0) (1,525 points, 61 first-place votes)
  2. Ohio State Buckeyes (10-1) (1,463 points)
  3. Texas Longhorns (10-1) (1,395 points)
  4. Penn State Nittany Lions (10-1) (1,301 points)
  5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-1) (1,278 points)
  6. Georgia Bulldogs (9-2) (1,242 points)
  7. Tennessee Volunteers (9-2) (1,110 points)
  8. Miami Hurricanes (10-1) (1,096 points)
  9. SMU Mustangs (10-1) (1,001 points)
  10. Indiana Hoosiers (10-1) (998 points)
  11. Boise State Broncos (10-1) (984 points)
  12. Clemson Tigers (9-2) (789 points)
  13. Alabama Crimson Tide (8-3) (739 points)
  14. Arizona State Sun Devils (9-2) (727 points)
  15. Ole Miss Rebels (8-3) (661 points)
  16. South Carolina Gamecocks (8-3) (639 points)
  17. Iowa State Cyclones (9-2) (498 points)
  18. Tulane Green Wave (9-2) (446 points)
  19. BYU Cougars (9-2) (445 points)
  20. Texas A&M Aggies (8-3) (399 points)
  21. UNLV Rebels (9-2) (231 points)
  22. Illinois Fighting Illini (8-3) (188 points)
  23. Colorado Buffaloes (8-3) (161 points)
  24. Missouri Tigers (8-3) (142 points)
  25. Army Black Knights (9-1) (133 points)

By using the latest AP Top 25 Poll, here is what the 12-team College Football Playoff would look like.

  1. Oregon Ducks (11-0) (Projected Big Ten champion)
  2. Texas Longhorns (10-1) (Projected SEC champion)
  3. Miami Hurricanes (10-1) (Projected ACC champion)
  4. Boise State Broncos (10-1) (Projected Mountain West/Group of Five champion)
  5. Ohio State Buckeyes (10-1) (Projected Big Ten runner-up)
  6. Penn State Nittany Lions (10-1) (Projected Big Ten at-large)
  7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-1) (Projected national independent at-large)
  8. Georgia Bulldogs (9-2) (Projected SEC runner-up)
  9. Tennessee Volunteers (9-2) (Projected SEC at-large)
  10. SMU Mustangs (10-1) (Projected ACC runner-up)
  11. Indiana Hoosiers (10-1) (Projected Big Ten at-large)
  12. Arizona State Sun Devils (9-2) (Projected Big 12 champion)

And for further reference, these would be the first four teams out based on the latest AP Top 25 Poll.

  • 13. Clemson Tigers (9-2) (ACC)
  • 14. Alabama Crimson Tide (8-3) (SEC)
  • 15. Ole Miss Rebels (8-3) (SEC)
  • 16. South Carolina Gamecocks (8-3) (SEC)

Indiana being ranked 10th and seeded 11th only goes to show that they have done enough to get in.

Indiana only needs a win over Purdue to ensure itself of a rare playoff bid

Assuming chalk the rest of the way, Indiana will not get leapfrogged by anyone in the 12-team playoff format. With the ACC, Big Ten and SEC Championship Games all probably having two teams ranked ahead of Indiana playing in them, there is a chance they could move up to higher than the No. 11 seed heading into Selection Sunday. Outside of a Purdue loss, there is only one other way they miss out...

I wrote about this earlier today when discussing how much of a lock Texas is to make the playoff. When it comes to the ACC, Big Ten and SEC Championship Games, there are only three teams who I think could be eliminated with a conference title bout, assuming a rivalry week win. That would be Clemson in the ACC, Indiana in the Big Ten and Texas A&M in the SEC. Penn State is cutting it close...

Right now, I would say that Indiana is in the same bucket of teams as Notre Dame, Penn State and Tennessee. If they just win next weekend, they will be in the playoff. The same principle probably applies to teams like Georgia, Miami, Ohio State, SMU and Texas, but they are all on track to play in their conference tournaments. Georgia, Oregon and SMU have already punched their tickets.

In a very weird way, Indiana might be more in control of its own playoff destiny than anyone. It would take the most absurd thing happening this season for IU to not make the playoff. It would require either a loss to Purdue, or a terrible loss to Oregon in the Big Ten Championship. For IU to even get there, Ohio State would have to lose to Michigan and Penn State would have to lose to Maryland.

As long as the Hoosiers win the Old Oaken Bucket, they will be playing in the playoff in a few weeks.

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