BLOOMINGTON — The College Football Playoff Committee kept the only undefeated teams — No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana — in the top two in the penultimate rankings released Tuesday night.
It will be the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in the Big Ten Championship Game this weekend in Indianapolis.
advertise
The Hoosiers (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) have stayed behind OSU in the CFP rankings for the fifth straight week. The winner of the conference championship game will lock up a berth in the Rose Bowl, becoming the Big Ten’s highest-ranked team and the top seed in the bracket.
“I have a chance to be one of the guys at Alabama,” Indiana coach Kurt Cignetti said Sunday. “We’re playing a second-quarter game in Florida two years in a row with (Tim) Tebow and Urban (Meyer). It’s going to be a great atmosphere.”
Based on the current standings, Indiana will face the winner between No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 10 Texas A&M.
The good news for Ohio State and Indiana State is that changes the CFP made to the strength of schedule metrics in the offseason should prevent teams that lose this weekend from falling out of the top four, the threshold for earning a first-round bye.
advertise
Under the new formula, these metrics reward teams for beating quality opponents while minimizing the penalties of losing to such teams.
Week 5 CFP Top 25 Rankings
1. Ohio State 12-0 (-)
2. Indiana 12-0 (-)
3. Georgia 11-1 (+1)
4. Texas Tech 11-1 (+1)
5. Oregon 11-1 (+1)
6. Ole Miss 11-1 (+1)
7. Texas A&M 11-1 (-4)
8. Oklahoma State 10-2 (-)
9. Alabama 10-2 (+1)
10. Notre Dame 10-2 (-1)
11. Brigham Young University 11-1 (-)
12. Miami 10-2 (-)
13. Texas 9-3 (+3)
14. Vanderbilt 10-2 (-1)
15. Utah 10-2 (-2)
16. USC 9-3 (+1)
17. Virginia 10-2 (+1)
18. Arizona 9-3 (+7)
19. Michigan 9-3 (-4)
20. Tulane 10-2 (+4)
21. Houston 9-3 (North/Right)
22. Georgia Tech 9-3 (+1)
advertise
23. Iowa State 8-4 (N/R)
24. North Texas 11-1 (N/R)
25. James Madison 11-1 (North/Right)
How does the College Football Playoff play out?
The 12 teams include the five highest-ranked conference champions, plus the next seven highest-ranked schools. The four highest-ranked schools are seeded one through four and receive byes in the first round.
The remaining schools will be seeded 5-12 based on their final rankings. If any of the five highest-ranked conference champions are not in the top 12, they will be classified as the bottom seed.
These eight schools will compete in the CFP first round, with the higher-seeded school hosting the lower-seeded team on campus (or at a designated venue selected by the higher-seeded team). The committee will not revise rankings to avoid rematches or reassign seeds.
advertise
Based on historical bowl relationships, the top four seeds will be assigned to bowl hosting quarterfinals. The Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl will host the quarterfinals of the season.
want more indians Coverage? Subscribe to IndyStar’s Hoosiers Newsletter. Listen to our IU athletics-centric podcast “Mind Your Banners” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the latest on IndyStar TV: Hoosiers.
This article originally appeared in the Indianapolis Star: Indiana football in CFP rankings, bracket predictions, Ohio State game
