INDIANAPOLIS — With the regular season now in the books, the Indiana football team remains entrenched in the College Football Playoff picture.
The 11-1 Hoosiers were ninth in Tuesday night’s College Football Playoff rankings. Indiana is currently projected to be seeded 10th in the in the CFP bracket.
If the CFP started today, Indiana would play seventh-seeded Georgia at Sanford Stadium in Athens in the first round. The teams seeded fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth in the CFP get to host first-round playoff games.
The top four seeds in the CFP — which can only be earned by conference champions — receive first-round byes. Because No. 3 Penn State and No. 1 Oregon have secured spots in the Big Ten Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IU can’t receive a first-round bye.
Like Indiana, Notre Dame also can’t get a first-round bye. The Fighting Irish — who clocked in at No. 4 in Tuesday’s rankings — can’t be seeded in the CFP’s top four because they do not play in a league in football, and thus they can’t be crowned conference champions.
Notre Dame is currently projected to be seeded sixth in the CFP bracket. If the playoff started today, the 11-1 Fighting Irish would host 11th-seeded Alabama at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend in the first round.
Because they’ve both played their last regular season games, Notre Dame and Indiana can’t do much to protect or improve their playoff positions between now and the time the CFP bracket is formally released next week.
The Fighting Irish and Hoosiers were 10th and fifth, respectively, in last week’s CFP rankings. Indiana and Notre Dame moved up this week after beating Purdue 66-0 and USC 49-35, respectively.
The teams that are most likely to improve or change their position in the CFP rankings are those that are slated to play in conference championship games on Saturday. Below is a list of notable conference championship games that will be held over the weekend:
- Mountain West Championship Game — No. 20 UNLV at No. 10 Boise State (Friday at 8 p.m. on FOX)
- AAC Championship Game — Tulane at No. 24 Army (Friday at 8 p.m.)
- No. 16 Iowa State vs. No. 15 Arizona State (Saturday at noon)
- No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 2 Texas (Saturday at 4 p.m.)
- No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 1 Oregon (Saturday at 8 p.m. on CBS)
- No. 17 Clemson vs. No. 8 SMU (Saturday at 8 p.m.)
ESPN will officially reveal the 2024 College Football Playoff bracket on Sunday at noon. The first round of the CFP will begin on Dec. 20 at 8 p.m.
