It’s officially, official. Indiana football will play Ohio State on Saturday as part of a top-5 matchup. The latest College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday night and Indiana remained in the top-5.
Indiana, on a bye this past week, remained at No. 5 overall while Ohio State stayed at No. 2. The Hoosiers are the 7-seed and will host 10-seed Ole Miss in the first round of the projected playoff bracket.
The Hoosiers are in the midst of a historic season, with their 10 wins already the most in program history. Indiana has also set a record for most Big Ten wins in a season. With the success of the season, Indiana football locked down Curt Cignetti to a long term deal through 2032, announced on Saturday.
IU was tested its last time out, narrowly defeating Michigan, 20-15.
“Indiana has been playing very well,” CFP Chair Wade Manuel said last week. “A close win against Michigan, but other than that, they’ve dominated everyone they’ve played.”
Last week’s win was the first game of the year that resulted in a one-score game.
“This is a team that’s capable, and the only limitations on this football team would be those we put on ourselves, between our ears,” Cignetti said this week. “But this is a group of guys that do not think that way. We’re going to go into this next game confident, believing, and we’re going to go out there and we’re going to play well.”
Seeds 1-4, which are the highest-rated conference champions, receive a first-round bye and then seeds 5-8 receive a home-game in the first round.
The playoff field is determined by the five highest-ranked conference champions — the power four leagues and the highest group of five champion. They each receive an automatic bid. The Group of Five champion will be seeded at No. 12, if it is not among the top 12 teams in the final poll.
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