College Football Playoff rankings: Does Penn State really deserve to be in over Indiana?

The College Football Playoff will be here before we know it. Week 13 was the penultimate weekend of the regular season, which means the pressure was on for those looking to clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff.

In the Big Ten, the Oregon Ducks are in the driver's seat to win the conference title as the No. 1 ranked team in the country. This is a Ducks team that is undefeated and has already beaten the Ohio State Buckeyes. With Oregon leading the way in the Big Ten, that leaves other teams in the conference looking to make it as an at-large team.

On Saturday, Ohio State handed the Indiana Hoosiers their first loss of the season, rather decisively. Also, the Penn State Nittany Lions improved to 10-1 after a narrow 26-25 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Penn State clinched the win after a fake punt run for a first down to kill the rest of the clock.

All three of those Big Ten teams are now 10-1 on the season and 7-1 in conference play. While there will be plenty of love for Ohio State, that creates a legitimate case for who should get into the playoff between Penn State and Indiana.

Should Penn State get into the College Football Playoff over Indiana?

When looking at Penn State's resume, they don't have that signature win that teams need to get into the College Football Playoff. They had a comeback win over the USC Trojans, but they were far from the team from the Pac-12 with Caleb Williams at quarterback. They scored blowout wins over Washington, Purdue, and Kent State.

Plus Penn State lost to Ohio State on their own home turf. It got to the point that Nittany Lions fans were so upset over the loss that they were chanting "Fire Franklin" at head coach James Franklin as he walked off the field after another loss to a highly-ranked team.

Meanwhile, Indiana lost to Ohio State on the road at "The Horseshoe." Would it have been a different result at Memorial Stadium? Also, Indiana doesn't have a win over a ranked team this season, but they have been one of the big surprises this year. Could that be enough to sway the CFP committee to put them in the Playoff? They've certainly shown that they are a team to take seriously.

Realistically, we'll have to see how the College Football Playoff bracket looks like this upcoming Tuesday. It's entirely feasible that both teams can sneak into the bracket. It certainly helps that Penn State faces Maryland and Indiana faces Purdue in their regular-season finales next week. But there could be some worry, especially with how crowded the top of the SEC looks.