Nov 08, 2025
3 min read
The Hoosiers fell behind only Ohio in the No.1 Playoff Seed.
The Nationa Bucks finished their 2024 regular season with an 11-1 record, a powerhouse program for the first college football tournament.The Hoosiers emerged as the 10th seed in the first year of the 12-team CFP but lost to the University of Notre Dame 27-17 on December 20, 2024.
In the head of the second cougneti coach in the Helm, the hooves stopped the first exit.Indiana is currently ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25, the highest ranking in school history, and has started a 9-0 comeback for the first time in program history.They own a 6-0 conference record.
Those scores earned Indiana No. 2 in Tuesday's first CFP rankings since 2025, behind only undefeated Ohio State, while placing ahead of another undefeated program — Texas A&M University.
After the planet's reveal, the CFP Central Election Commission chairperson questioned the media about the party's decision.
Here's what Rhodes had to say about Indiana:
Defense as discrimination
Rambung provides a successful path as a producer among the top three programs.
"I think when you think about the difference between Ohio State and Indiana and A&M, you're talking really small margins, and then when you look at A&M's defense, it's inferior to both Ohio State and Indiana," Roovees said.
In Week 11, Ohio State and Indiana are two of the best football teams this season.
Ohio State's defense is giving up just 214.8 yards per game -- the fewest in the nation -- while Indiana ranks seventh with 248.3 yards allowed per contest.The Buckeyes also lead the nation with just 6.9 points per game.The Hoosiers are allowing just 10.8 points per contest, which is third in the nation.
On the defensive side, that dominance separated the two Big Ten programs from Texas A&M, which is holding opponents to 321.5 yards and 23.6 points per game this season.
Indiana lost four of its four non-league games to start the season, drawing criticism for its complacency.The Hoosiers outscored those first three games, outscoring their opponents 156-23.
However, the selection committee dismissed concerns about the strength of Indiana's schedule.
"Yeah, a schedule is a schedule," Rhodes said."We don't talk about scheduling philosophy and how each team schedules. We just looked at hey, this is who's on the schedule. That's the outcome of those games. Then we look at all the metrics that are available to us."
Coming off of Indiana, Ohio State hosted the University of Texas at Austin in its season opener, the preseason No. 1 ranked team in the nation.The Buckeyes still managed a 14-7 victory over the Longhorns on August 30th.
"It's very important to talk about the state of Ohio and Indiana, two really good teams, really, really good teams," Rhoathes said.
Despite the dominant and historic start to 2025 for the Indiana Indians, Ohio State was divided enough to put the Sleds first when the committee met.
"It was really close, but when we looked at the film, and we're lucky enough to have members and coaches who do video, we thought a little bit when we thought about the offensive game and then the little advantage," Rhoades said. "That's how it ended up."
Follow journalists Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and [email protected]) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and [email protected]) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and [email protected]) for up-to-date information throughout the Indiana football season.
