College Football Playoff: Indiana Gets No. 10 Seed, Travels To Notre Dame

Following an 11-1 season under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti, Indiana earned the No. 10 seed in the College Football Playoff and will play at No. 7 seed Notre Dame in the first round.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, defensive end Lanell Carr Jr. (41) and defensive lineman Mario Landino (97) run onto the field before playing Ohio State. / Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Hoosiers are in.

The official College Football Playoff bracket was announced Sunday afternoon, and Indiana received the No. 10 seed. That sets up a first-round matchup at No. 7 seed Notre Dame at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. on Friday, Dec. 20 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN.

The Hoosiers came in at No. 8 in the final College Football Playoff rankings, but they slid down two spots because the four highest-ranked conference champions received automatic first-round byes. Those teams include Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State.

“In-state battle. [Curt] Cignetti wanted a home game. I don’t think he had much of a case for a home game,” ESPN’s Rece Davis said on the selection show. “But he doesn’t have to travel too far as the Hoosiers – what a remarkable season – they go to take on the Irish.”

“You want to talk about two different teams, Indiana and Notre Dame,” ESPN’s Joey Galloway said  Notre Dame with their run game, Riley Leonard, also their run game, [Jeremiyah] Love, their running back, going against an Indiana team that is – when you look at them, they want to throw the ball, they want to go through the air, very good defense, but can it hold up against the run of Notre Dame?”

The winner of Indiana’s first-round game will advance to face No. 2 seed Georgia, which won the SEC championship 22-19 in overtime Saturday against Texas. That game would be played on Jan. 1 at 8:45 p.m. ET on ESPN in the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La.

Indiana enters the playoffs with an 11-1 overall record and an 8-1 run in Big Ten play in its first season under coach Curt Cignetti, the most wins in program history. The Hoosiers lead the FBS in average scoring margin at 28.7, while ranking second nationally in total defense (244.8) and 24th in total offense (438.8).

Indiana ranks 10th overall in ESPN’s College Football Power Index (FPI), eighth in strength of record, 68th in strength of schedule, seventh in game control and first in average in-game win probability. The Hoosiers stayed put at No. 9 in Sunday’s AP Top 25 poll, though they were jumped by Mountain West Conference champion Boise State. Indiana has been ranked within the top 10 for six straight weeks, peaking at No. 5 twice. 

Here’s how the playoff bracket is formed:

• The five highest-rated conference champions make the field. Four of them will receive byes to the quarterfinals as the top four seeds. The fifth champion gets the No. 12 seed if they are outside the top 12 in the rankings. The other seven teams are at-large selections from across FBS. They are slotted in the No. 5-No. 11 seed range.
• The eight teams that don’t receive byes play the first round on campus sites. The No. 5-8 seeds will host those games.

THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF BRACKET IS SET 🏆🙌

Which two teams will meet in the championship game? pic.twitter.com/sZsiYBA3mO

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) December 8, 2024

Here are all of the first-round matchups.

• No. 5 seed Texas vs. No. 12 seed Clemson on Dec. 21 at 4 p.m. ET at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin Texas on TNT and Max.
• No. 6 seed Penn State vs. No. 11 seed SMU on Dec. 21 at 12 p.m. ET at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa. on TNT and Max.
• No. 7 seed Notre Dame vs. No. 10 seed Indiana on Dec. 20 at 8 p.m. ET at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. on ABC and ESPN.
• No. 8 seed Ohio State vs. No. 9 seed Tennessee on Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. ET at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio on ABC and ESPN.

Here are the potential quarterfinal matchups.

• No. 1 seed Oregon vs. winner of Ohio State-Tennessee on Jan. 1 at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif.
• No. 2 seed Georgia vs. winner of Notre Dame-Indiana on Jan. 1 at 8:45 p.m. ET on ESPN in the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La.
• No. 3 seed Boise State vs. winner of Penn State-SMU on Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN in the VRBO Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
• No. 4 seed Arizona State vs. winner of Texas-Clemson Jan. 1 at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga.

Here are the potential semifinal matchups.

• Oregon-Ohio State-Tennessee winner vs. Arizona State-Texas-Clemson winner on Friday Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
• Georgia-Notre Dame-Indiana winner vs. Boise State-Penn State-SMU winner on Thursday, Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN in the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

And if the Hoosiers make it all the way to the national championship game, they’d play Monday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga.