College Football Playoff rankings: Should Indiana make the 12-team field after Ohio State loss?

For nearly three months, the Indiana Hoosiers were the darlings of the college football world. But it took just three hours for everything to come crashing down: The dream season for Curt Cignetti and Co. ran off the rails on Saturday afternoon, as the Hoosiers were knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten in a sloppy 38-15 loss to the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus.

This was hardly the Indiana team we'd grown accustomed to seeing over the course of this year. The usually unflappable Kurtis Rourke was harassed all day, taking nearly as many sacks (5) as he had completions (8) while throwing for just 68 yards. The nation's No. 1 scoring offense managed just 151 yards total on the day, while the ever-steady Will Howard accounted for three scores as the Buckeyes turned a 14-7 game at halftime into a 28-7 lead in the third quarter and cruised from there.

Indiana has looked brilliant all season long. Now, though, some uncomfortable questions need to be asked. As SEC fans all across the South are all too keen to remind everyone, this was the only real test on the Hoosiers' schedule, and their performance left a lot to be desired. The loss knocks them out of the Big Ten title hunt (barring a slip-up from Ohio State next weekend against Michigan), taking away another opportunity for a statement-making win. An 11-1 finish is nothing to sneeze at, but in a crowded College Football Playoff field, will it be enough to earn the Hoosiers a spot in the final bracket?

Does Indiana still deserve College Football Playoff spot after loss to Ohio State?

First, a few caveats are in order. It's going to sound like making apologies, but it's worth noting that this game wasn't quite as lopsided as the final box score might suggest. Indiana cruised down the field for a 70-yard touchdown drive to start the game and looked every bit Ohio State's equal in the trenches, only falling behind at half after a dropped snap from the punter gave the Buckeyes the ball with a short field to work with. If you were looking for evidence that Indiana belonged with the sport's big boys, you got plenty of it over the first two quarters.

Of course, things unraveled a bit in the second half, with special teams again playing a part: Ohio State safety Caleb Downs took a punt back for a touchdown to give the Buckeyes a two-touchdown lead, and from there the Buckeyes defensive front just teed off on Rourke for the better part of two quarters. Still, Ohio State wasn't exactly moving the ball at will, and it's not hard to envision a version of this game that becomes a close, defensive struggle without a couple of key Indiana miscues.

None of which will satisfy fans of any of the two-loss teams also clamoring for an at-large bid, all of whom have played a tougher schedule than Indiana has to this point. But the South can breathe easy: Especially after Ole Miss' loss at Florida on Saturday in the Swamp, there's plenty of room for everybody. Oregon and Ohio State are locks, and three more spots will go to the Big 12 champ, the ACC champ and either Boise State or Tulane as the highest-ranked Group of 5 conference champion. If we assume that Penn State, Notre Dame, Alabama, Miami or SMU (whichever loses the ACC title game), Georgia and Tennessee all get in, that still leaves one spot left — a spot which the Hoosiers still have a good chance of claiming.

There's still much to be decided, obviously. But the committee obviously isn't wild about Clemson or any of the two-loss Big 12 teams, and for good reason; you'd be hard-pressed to argue that Indiana hasn't been more impressive on the whole, despite Saturday's loss. At that point, it's really down to the Texas-Texas A&M game. If the Aggies win, they'd likely claim that they deserve a spot, but that would create a scenario in which the loser of the SEC title game is guaranteed to pick up a third loss.

Indiana fans are no doubt hurting today, but they can take heart that things are shaping up in their favor, with plenty more chaos to come.