Indiana football stayed at No. 2 in the fifth College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday on ESPN –– the final rankings before Selection Day on Dec. 7.
The Hoosiers notched a dominant 56-3 victory in their final regular season matchup against Purdue on Friday. If the season ended Tuesday, Indiana would play the winner of the matchup between the University of Notre Dame and Texas A&M University in the quarterfinals. The top four seeds will receive a first round bye.
Indiana slotted behind No. 1 Ohio State –– the only other undefeated program in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Texas A&M held the No. 3 spot through the first four rankings, but dropped to No. 7 after suffering its first loss of the season to now-No. 13 University of Texas at Austin on Friday.
Meanwhile, the University of Georgia jumped the Aggies, claiming the No. 3 ranking following its 16-9 victory against the Georgia Institute of Technology on Friday. Texas Tech University secured the No. 4 spot after its win over West Virginia University Saturday.
The Hoosiers have secured the No. 2 ranking in each of the CFP selection committee’s five rankings so far. However, Indiana faces an opportunity to take the top spot away from Ohio State in the Big Ten Football Championship this weekend in Indianapolis –– the first appearance in school history. Kickoff against the Buckeyes is set for 8 p.m. Saturday and the game will be televised on FOX.
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.
