Indiana On The Bubble As Latest College Football Playoff Rankings Are Revealed

Indiana fell to the No. 10 spot in rankings by the College Football Playoff committee. That makes the Hoosiers the last at-large team in the field.

Ohio State Buckeyes cornerback Davison Igbinosun (1) and safety Lathan Ransom (8) tackle Indiana Hoosiers running back Justice Ellison (6) during the first half of the NCAA football game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Since it lost 38-15 at Ohio State Saturday, Indiana’s football team waited to see what its fate would be as far as the College Football Playoff picture is concerned.

On Tuesday night, Indiana found out it would still be in the CFP field – but the Hoosiers are right on the cut line.

Indiana was ranked No. 10 in the College Football Playoff rankings. However, with the way the College Football Playoff bracket is built, the Hoosiers are the last team in the 12-team field.

The top five rated conference champions make the field. One of them, No. 14 Arizona State from the Big 12, is outside the top 12. The top four conference champions get byes into the quarterfinals. No. 11 Boise State, the top-seeded team from the Mountain West Conference, vaults to the No. 4 seed in the bracket.

That means Indiana, while ranked 10th, is an 11-seed in the bracket – the last team in the field. By these rankings, Indiana would open the College Football Playoff with a road game at Penn State.

Indiana’s loss to Ohio State cost them five spots in the rankings. Notre Dame, Miami, Georgia, Tennessee and SMU jumped over the Hoosiers in the wake of the defeat to the Buckeyes.

“We viewed Indiana – they played well at times against Ohio State and Ohio State pulled out a victory and really came on in the second half of that game, but we were impressed with some of the things Indiana did,” College Football Playoff committee chair Warde Manuel said.

“They dropped five, but we still felt their body of work was strong enough to remain in the top 10,” Manuel added.

There’s one week left in the college football regular season. Indiana hosts Purdue at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Indiana has a long-shot chance at qualifying for the Big Ten championship game if it beats Purdue, but the Hoosiers would need both Ohio State and Penn State to lose. Indiana will know if that scenario has come to pass by the time the Old Oaken Bucket game kicks off.

If the Hoosiers miss the Big Ten championship game, as is likely, Indiana will be at the mercy of results in the conference championship games – both in ways that would be favorable and unfavorable for the Hoosiers.

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. 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 full College Football Playoff Rankings:

Playoff qualifiers

1. Oregon, 11-0, best Big Ten seed. As a projected conference champion, the Ducks are the No. 1 seed in the playoff bracket.

2. Ohio State, 10-1. As an at-large selection, the Buckeyes move to the No. 5 seed in the playoff bracket.

3. Texas, 10-1, best SEC seed. As a projected conference champion, the Longhorns move to the No. 2 seed in the playoff bracket.

4. Penn State, 10-1. As an at-large selection, the Nittany Lions move to the No. 6 seed in the playoff bracket

5. Notre Dame, 10-1. As an at-large selection, the Fighting Irish would move to the No. 7 seed in the playoff bracket.

6. Miami, 9-1, best ACC seed. As a projected conference champion, the Hurricanes move to the No. 3 seed in the playoff bracket.

7. Georgia, 9-2. As an at-large selection, the Bulldogs would move to the No. 8 seed in the playoff bracket.

8. Tennessee, 9-2. As an at-large selection, the Volunteers would move to the No. 9 seed in the playoff bracket.

9. SMU, 10-1. As an at-large selection, the Mustangs would move to the No. 10 seed in the bracket.

10. Indiana, 10-1. As an at-large selection, the Hoosiers would move to the No. 11 seed in the bracket.

11. Boise State, 10-1, best Mountain West seed. As a projected conference champion, the Broncos move to the No. 4 seed in the playoff bracket.

16. Arizona State, 9-2, best Big 12 seed. The Sun Devils would be the No. 12 seed in the playoff bracket based on being the fifth-best conference champion.

Non-qualifying teams

12. Clemson, 9-2, left out of field due to a conference champion being ranked behind them.

13. Alabama, 8-3.

14. Ole Miss, 8-3.

15. South Carolina, 8-3.

17. Tulane, 9-2.

18. Iowa State, 9-2.

19. BYU, 9-2.

20. Texas A&M, 8-3.

21. Missouri, 8-3.

22. UNLV, 9-2.

23. Illinois, 8-3.

24. Kansas State, 8-3.

25. Colorado, 8-3.

The projected playoff field

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

No. 12 Arizona State at No. 5 Ohio State

No. 11 Indiana at No. 6 Penn State

No. 10 SMU at No. 7 Notre Dame

No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Georgia

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

Ohio State-Arizona State winner vs. No. 4 Boise State

Penn State-Indiana winner vs. No. 3 Miami

Notre Dame-SMU winner vs. No. 2 Texas

Georgia-Tennessee winner vs. No. 1 Oregon

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

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

Miami-Penn State-Indiana winner vs. Ohio State-Notre Dame-SMU winner

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

Semifinal winners

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