The college football regular season is heading into its final month, but once December hits, that is when the real fun begins. Teams have just a few more weeks to impress the College Football Playoff selection committee with big wins to convince them they deserve a spot in the playoff at the end of the season.
For the Indiana Hoosiers, they are in the middle of yet another amazing being 9-0 for the second year in a row. Head coach Curt Cignetti has his team playing better than they did even a year ago, making them look like they could give the kings of college football, the Ohio State Buckeyes, a run for their money.
With the first round of rankings from the committee coming out on Tuesday, November 4, here is a prediction on how the 2025 College Football Playoff will look at the end of the season.
Team | Ranking | Why are they here? |
|---|---|---|
Ohio State Buckeyes | 1 | Big Ten Champion |
Texas A&M Aggies | 2 | SEC Champion |
Texas Tech Red Raiders | 3 | Big 12 Champion |
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | 4 | ACC Champion |
Indiana Hoosiers | 5 | At-large |
Alabama Crimson Tide | 6 | At-large |
Ole Miss Rebels | 7 | At-large |
Oregon Ducks | 8 | At-large |
BYU Cougars | 9 | At-large |
Georgia Bulldogs | 10 | At-large |
Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 11 | At-large |
Memphis Tigers | 12 | Group of Five Champion |
Now, Indiana fans may immediately see that the Hoosiers aren't No. 1 and that Ohio State sits at that spot as well as being the Big Ten Champions. In this prediction, the Hoosiers are not the Big Ten champs, but I do believe they will be in the game.
Indiana is certainly having a great season, but the Hoosiers might need a loss heading into the College Football Playoff, just to see what they truly need to work on. When Ohio State lost last season to Michigan, it allowed the Buckeyes to really collect themselves, and they won the Championship as the 8-seed, so being a 5-seed would not be the worst thing for Indiana.
If anything, being the 5-seed could give Indiana a bit of an easier path to the championship. Indiana is, however, the highest-ranked non-champion, which makes it effectively the best team that didn't win a conference championship.
The Hoosiers are playing their best football right now, but they need all the momentum they can get before heading into the postseason, as they will be facing a lot of ranked teams throughout the playoffs, something this team isn't quite used to just yet.