Following its 13-10 Big Ten Championship victory over Ohio State on Saturday, Indiana football locked up the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff ranking, announced Sunday on ESPN. The Hoosiers ranked No. 2 in each of the CFP selection committee’s five rankings leading up to the final selections Sunday.
The Hoosiers are set to receive a first round bye, before playing Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Indiana will face the winner of the matchup between the University of Oklahoma and The University of Alabama.
With its victory over Ohio State, Indiana moved to the top of the rankings as the only undefeated program remaining in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Meanwhile, Ohio State dropped to No. 2 with a 12-1 overall record.
Indiana redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza passed for 222 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver Charlie Becker led the Hoosiers with six catches for 126 receiving yards Saturday.
The Hoosiers’ defense stymied the Buckeyes. After allowing 10 first half points, Indiana shut Ohio State out in the second half.
The University of Georgia claimed the No. 3 spot in the playoff following its 28-7 Southeastern Conference Championship victory over Alabama on Saturday. To round out the top four spots, Texas Tech University earned a dominant 34-7 win against Brigham Young University on Saturday.
Oregon was the only other Big Ten program to make the CFP selection committee’s 12-team playoff, finishing its regular season with an 11-1 record. The Ducks’ only loss came against Indiana on Oct. 11, and will take on James Madison University in the first round as the No. 5 seed.
Follow reporters Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
