What do first CFP rankings mean for IU football? Choose your own adventure.

BLOOMINGTON – Indiana football debuted at No. 8, sort of, in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2024 season. Choose your own adventure from here.

Indiana, the disrespect! Look at the way they’re winning! Look at these scores! If this were a bigger brand that number would be higher!

The Hoosiers have played, by ESPN’s measure, far and away the easiest schedule of any of the 12 teams in the Playoff field to date. There can be no wider accusations of anti-Big Ten bias from the Worldwide Leader, which carries the CFP but not the nation’s oldest conference anymore, given that fully one-third of the field is Big Ten teams, every one of them in the top eight (sort of).

This could be ugly for Indiana! Can the Hoosiers afford to lose a game and still get into the Playoff?! Eight feels perilously low if they can’t pick up a more meaningful win than Washington at home between now and Selection Sunday!

Warde Manuel, Michigan AD and the selection committee chair, couldn’t have been more effusive in his praise of Indiana’s manner of victory. He came to the table with specific numbers backing up the Hoosiers’ inclusion in the 12-team field. The committee sounds impressed.

See? Choose your own adventure.

In truth, the committee’s first run at the rankings is always overanalyzed and undercooked. So much will change between now and the day it matters.

Current No. 7 Tennessee still must play current No. 3 Georgia in Athens. No. 11 Alabama, a two-loss team and the last at-large in the field, visits No. 15 LSU, a two-loss team not in the field, this weekend in a game likely to eliminate the loser from contention. No. 5 Texas travels to No. 14 Texas A&M later this year. No. 8 Indiana, as you might know, goes to Columbus to play No. 2 Ohio State in 2 ½ weeks.

There are miles yet to travel in this college…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/first-cfp-rankings-mean-iu-124028111.html

Author : Indianapolis Star

Publish date : 2024-11-06 12:40:28

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