Indiana 9th in College Football Playoff Rankings, Would Open At Georgia As No. 10 Seed

Indiana came in at No. 9 in Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings, meaning the Hoosiers would receive the No. 10 seed at play at No. 7 seed Georgia in the first round due to the playoff’s automatic bid rules for conference champions.

Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke passes against Purdue at Memorial Stadium. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Curt Cignetti felt good about Indiana’s College Football Playoff chances even after the Hoosiers’ 38-15 loss at Ohio State on Nov. 23. Indiana’s 66-0 win over Purdue on Saturday further solidified its case to make the 12-team playoff, and Tuesday’s ranking show confirmed that.

Indiana came in at No. 9 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. Because the playoff awards byes to the top four conference champions, Indiana would slide down to the No. 10 seed if the official playoff field was announced today. That would set up a first-round matchup against No. 7 seed Georgia on Dec. 20 or 21 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga. with the winner playing Texas at a neutral site. The official playoff bracket is announced Dec. 8.

“They did the things that good things do. They hammered almost every other mediocre team they played,” Rece Davis said on ESPN’s rankings show.

College Football Playoff, if it started today pic.twitter.com/8b4QW6O2kc

— RankingsU (@Rankings_U) December 4, 2024

Indiana received a lot of criticism throughout the season when its strength of schedule ranked 100th in the country, but it went down to 65th by the end of the regular season. 

“Not great, but it’s somewhere in the middle,” Booger McFarland said of the Hooosiers’ strength of schedule.

While the Hoosiers have a few weeks off before the playoffs, their seeding isn’t entirely set. Indiana tied for second place in the Big Ten standings with a 11-1 overall record and an 8-1 run in conference play, but the Hoosiers lost the tiebreaker to Penn State based on the Nittany Lions having a better cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents. 

Cignetti, who predicted the day he was introduced as Indiana’s new head coach that the Hoosiers would play in the Big Ten title game his first season, took exception to the tiebreaker rules.

“We’d have been better off just flipping a coin between the two second place teams to see who’d have played in that game, but it didn’t work out that way,” Cignetti said Tuesday on the Big Ten Network. So I guess my prediction didn’t come true, but we’re gonna play in the College Football Playoff.”

That means Indiana will have an extra week off before the College Football Playoff, which may not entirely be a bad thing, despite its obvious desire to win a Big Ten title. Indiana is in great shape to make the playoff, but its seeding could be affected by conference championship week. Those games with playoff relevance include Oregon vs. Penn State in the Big Ten, Georgia vs. Texas in the SEC, Iowa State vs. Arizona State in the Big 12, Clemson vs. SMU in the ACC and Boise State vs. UNLV in the Mountain West. 

But before those games are played, here’s a full breakdown of Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings.

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.

Playoff qualifiers

1. Oregon 12-0, best Big Ten seed. As a projected conference champion, the Ducks are the No. 1 seed in the playoff bracket.

2. Texas 11-1, best SEC seed. As a projected conference champion, the Longhorns are the No. 2 seed in the playoff bracket.

3. Penn State 11-1, second-best Big Ten seed. As the highest at-large bid, Penn State would slide down two spots to the No. 5 seed in the playoff bracket. The Nittany Lions could earn a bye if they defeat Oregon in the Big Ten championship.

4. Notre Dame 11-1, second-best at-large bid. As an independent team, Notre Dame does not have a chance to earn one of the four byes given to conference champions. In this scenario, the Fighting Irish would be the No. 6 seed.

5. Georgia 10-2, second-best SEC seed. As an at-large bid, the Bulldogs would slide down two spots to the No. 7 seed in the playoff bracket. Georgia could earn a first-round bye if it defeats Texas in the SEC championship game.

6. Ohio State 10-2, third-best Big Ten seed. As an at-large bid, the Buckeyes would move down two spots to the No. 8 seed in the playoff bracket.

7. Tennessee 10-2, third-best SEC seed. As an at-large big, the Volunteers would move down two spots to the No. 9 seed in the playoff bracket.

8. SMU 11-1, best ACC seed. As a projected conference champion, SMU would move up five spots and receive the No. 3 seed in the playoff bracket. SMU plays Clemson in the ACC championship game.

9. Indiana 11-1, fourth-best Big Ten seed. As an at-large bid, Indiana would move down one spot to the No. 10 seed in the playoff bracket.

10. Boise State 11-1, best Mountain West seed. As the fourth-highest ranked projected conference champion, Boise State would receive a first-round bye and move up six spots to the No. 4 seed in the playoff bracket. 

11. Alabama 9-3, fourth-best SEC seed. As the last at-large bid in the field, the Crimson Tide would receive the No. 11 seed in the playoff bracket. 

15. Arizona State 10-2, best Big 12 seed. As the fifth-highest ranked conference champion, Arizona State would receive an automatic bid to the playoff but would not receive a first-round bye. In this scenario, the Sun Devils would be the No. 12 seed in the playoff bracket. 

Non-qualifying teams

12. Miami 10-2. Despite being ranked No. 12, Miami would not qualify for the 12-team playoff. As the Big 12 champion, 15th-ranked Arizona State would make the playoff ahead of Miami.

13. Ole Miss 9-3 

14. South Carolina 9-3

16. Iowa State 10-2. The Cyclones have a chance to receive an automatic bid to the playoff if they defeat Arizona State in the Big 12 championship game.

17. Clemson 9-3. The Tigers have a chance to receive an automatic bid to the playoff if they defeat SMU in the ACC championship game.

18. BYU 10-2

19. Missouri 9-3

20. UNLV 10-2. The Rebels have a chance to receive an automatic bid to the playoff as one of the top five conference champions if they defeat Boise State in the Mountain West Conference championship game.

21. Illinois 9-3

22. Syracuse 9-3

23. Colorado 9-3

24. Army 10-1

25. Memphis 10-0

The projected playoff field

First round (Dec. 20-21 at campus sites)

No. 12 seed Arizona State at No. 5 seed Penn State

No. 11 seed Alabama at No. 6 seed Notre Dame

No. 10 seed Indiana at No. 7 seed Georgia

No. 9 seed Tennessee at No. 8 seed Ohio State

Quarterfinals (Dec. 31-Jan. 1, played at traditional bowl sites: Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl)

No. 4 seed Boise State vs. winner of Penn State-Arizona State

No. 3 seed SMU vs. winner of Notre Dame-Alabama

No. 2 seed Texas vs. winner of Georgia-Indiana

No. 1 seed Oregon vs. winner of Ohio State-Tennessee

Semifinals (Jan. 9-10, played at traditional bowl sites: Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl)

Boise State-Penn State-Arizona State winner vs. Oregon-Ohio State-Tennessee winner

SMU-Notre Dame-Alabama winner vs. Texas-Georgia-Indiana winner

Championship (Jan. 20, played at Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta)

Semifinal winners

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