The first set of College Football Playoff rankings are set to come out tonight and Indiana, for the third consecutive season, is set for a ranking.
The Hoosiers are 7-1 overall and 5-1 in Big Ten play heading into the bye week. They're undefeated on the road and their lone loss, to Ohio State, came by just four points (and a foot, but we don't have to dredge all that up right now).
The issue? Indiana's wins are by relatively slim margins as well. The Hoosiers beat Northwestern by six points, Nebraska by three, Michigan by 7 and Minnesota by 7. Their two most recent wins, on the road against the Wolverines and at home against the Golden Gophers, both came in overtime.
Indiana was beating its Big Ten foes in blowout fashion through much of the 2024 and 2025 seasons, something that made up for a lack of ranked victories in the former season. The Hoosiers have overcome strong defenses, namely those of Nebraska and Michigan, but own no ranked wins as of this week with Northwestern falling just shy of the AP Top-25.
What can help Indiana is the fact that its defense, overseen by Broyles Award-winning coordinator Bryant Haines, is the best in the country. That's not my opinion either, the Hoosier defense is No. 1 nationally in ESPN's SP+ ratings , Bill Connelly's measure of efficiency.
The defense is why Indiana keeps winning, keeping margins manageable while the offense finds a way to win, be that chunk plays in overtime or Nick Marsh torching Nebraska's secondary.
Undefeated Miami will likely debut at No. 1. Georgia, Notre Dame, UCLA and Utah will follow in some order, but it's hard for me to see Indiana falling outside the top-10. I predict we see the Hoosiers slot in anywhere from No. 6-9 tomorrow evening.
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