Oof.
Indiana football fell hard in the latest edition of the College Football Playoff rankings, dropping all the way from No. 4 in last week’s initial top-25 to No. 9 this week. Notably, the Hoosiers did not play a game between last week’s rankings and this set, having been on a bye.
The Hoosiers’ national championship odds took a hit too, with Indiana sitting at +1000, the sixth best odds, to win this year’s title, per FanDuel Sportsbook.
What sunk the Hoosiers’ ranking was, at least partly, the devaluation
of its resume. Ohio State, the Hoosiers’ lone loss on the season, fell from No. 12 last week to No. 20 this week after a 41-28 blowout loss at home against unranked Oregon. The Buckeyes’ resume had already taken a hit with a 30-18 loss to USC the week prior, which landed them aforementioned No. 12 ranking.
None of Indiana’s eight wins are from ranked teams with several of the Hoosiers’ more notable victories such as home against Northwestern, on the road at Nebraska and back on the road against Michigan before returning home against Minnesota, all lost this past Saturday.
We foresaw this heading into today, but five spots feels like a really, really steep fall from last week. The Hoosiers, with their one loss, sit behind three different teams that have lost two games. UCLA, which sat behind the Hoosiers in last week’s rankings, shot up to their spot at No. 4 despite carrying similar resume issues with their nine wins.
Indiana has some control of its destiny, facing newly No. 18 USC this week at home before heading on the road against Washington and returning home for the Old Oaken Bucket game against rival Purdue.
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