Indiana Is Ranked No. 8 In College Football Playoff Rankings, No. 9 In Playoff Bracket

Undefeated Indiana would play at Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff as the rankings currently stand.

Indiana's Justice Ellison (6) celebrates a touchdown during the Indiana versus Nebraska football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – If the season ended today, Indiana’s unbeaten football team would be in the College Football Playoff.

The first College Football Playoff Rankings were released Tuesday night, the first rankings release that takes the expanded 12-team field into account.

Indiana’s 9-0 football team is ranked No. 8 in the first College Football Playoff Rankings. However, due to the playoff format, the Hoosiers would be the No. 9 seed in the playoff bracket.

Normally, a No. 8 seed would mean a team would host a first-round game, but the playoff format gives a bye to the top four conference champions.

Brigham Young is the No. 9 team in the ranking, but as the best-ranked Big 12 team, the Cougars would vault to the No. 4 seed in the playoff bracket and the Hoosiers would fall to the No. 9 seed.

The cascading effect would drop all of the at-large selections above BYU at least one seed line in the bracket. Because of that, Indiana would play at 7th-ranked Tennessee in the first round of the playoffs.

College Football Playoff Committee Chairman Warde Manuel, the athletic director at Michigan, commented on Indiana’s case during the ESPN broadcast when the rankings were revealed.

BYU, also unbeaten, has a better strength of schedule than Indiana (BYU is 61st, Indiana is 103rd). But Manuel said the Hoosiers have been impressive.

“Indiana, their strength of schedule is not as strong as BYU, but what Indiana has done on the field, when we look at those games, they’re winning by double-digits. They’re averaging 33 points a game more than their opponents. They’re solid on both sides – offensively and defensively. They’re just a really great team,” Manuel said.

Indiana’s No. 8 ranking matches their spot in the Associated Press media poll.

Here is 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. In the first set of rankings, Oregon (highest-ranked Big Ten team), Georgia (highest-ranked SEC team), Miami (Fla.) (highest-ranked ACC team) and BYU (highest-ranked Big 12 team) would get those byes.

Boise State, as the fifth-ranked conference champion from one of the non-Power Four leagues (Mountain West), also makes the tournament field, but does not get a bye. Since the Broncos are 12th in the rankings, they would make the field anyhow.

• 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.

Indiana is one of four Big Ten teams in the first projected playoff bracket along with No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 6 Penn State.

The SEC would have three teams (No. 2 Georgia, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 11 Alabama) in the field. The ACC (No. 4 Miami), Big 12 (No. 9 BYU) and Mountain West (No. 12 Boise State) have one team in the field. Notre Dame (No. 10) is in the field as an independent.

There will be rankings released each Tuesday until Dec. 8, when the final rankings are set and the final field is announced.

Teams that play in the conference championship game can reach the field as the conference championship game winners get an automatic bid.

The full College Football Playoff Rankings:

Playoff rankings

Oregon Ducks wide receiver Tez Johnson (15) catches a pass for a touchdown during the second quarter against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Autzen Stadium. / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

Playoff qualifying teams

1. Oregon, 9-0. Big Ten champion.

2. Ohio State, 7-1. As an at-large selection, the Buckeyes move to the No. 5 seed in the playoff bracket.

3. Georgia, 7-1. As SEC champion, the Bulldogs move up to the No. 2 seed in the playoff bracket.

4. Miami, 9-0. As ACC champion, the Hurricanes move up to the No. 3 seed in the playoff bracket.

5. Texas, 7-1. As an at-large selection, the Longhorns would move down to the No. 6 seed in the playoff bracket.

6. Penn State, 7-1. As an at-large selection, the Nittany Lions would move down to the No. 7 seed in the playoff bracket.

7. Tennessee, 7-1. As an at-large selection, the Volunteers would move down to the No. 8 seed in the playoff bracket.

8. Indiana, 9-0. As an at-large selection, the Hoosiers would move down to the No. 9 seed in the playoff bracket.

9. BYU, 8-0. As Big 12 conference champion, so it moves up to a No. 4 seed in the playoff bracket.

10. Notre Dame, 7-1. An at-large selection in the playoff field.

11. Alabama, 6-2. An at-large selection in the playoff field.

12. Boise State, 7-1. The best conference champion from a non-Power 4 conference, but seeded high enough to be in the field anyhow.

Non-qualifying teams

13. SMU, 8-1.

14. Texas A&M, 7-2.

15. LSU, 6-2.

16. Ole Miss, 7-2.

17. Iowa State, 7-1.

18. Pittsburgh, 7-1.

19. Kansas State, 7-2.

20. Colorado, 6-2.

21. Washington State, 7-1.

22. Louisville, 6-3.

23. Clemson, 6-2.

24. Missouri, 6-2

25. Army, 8-0

The projected playoff field

Dec 29, 2022; Atlanta, GA, USA; The College Football Playoff trophy inside the College Football Hall of Fame during media day for the Peach Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus Dispatch / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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

No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Ohio State

No. 11 Alabama at No. 6 Texas

No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 7 Penn State

No. 9 Indiana at No. 8 Tennessee

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

Boise State-Ohio State winner at No. 4 BYU

Alabama-Texas winner at No. 3 Miami

Notre Dame-Penn State winner at No. 2 Georgia

Indiana-Tennessee winner at No. 1 Oregon

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

Boise State-Ohio State-BYU winner vs. Indiana-Tennessee-Oregon winner

Alabama-Texas-Miami winner vs. Notre Dame-Penn State-Georgia winner

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

Semifinal winners

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