Indiana Football: Are Hoosiers being disrespected by college football committee?

Indiana football was again left out of the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night. Is it a sign of disrespect to a program on the rise?

Indiana football climbed into the Coach’s Poll and AP Poll this week for the first time in about 25 years. For a program that has struggled it was a huge accomplishment. It looked like they were on their way to being ranked in the College Football Playoff, but then they weren’t.

Seven o’clock rolled around and the rankings were revealed and Indiana was nowhere to be seen. Texas jumped up nine spots for beating an ok Kansas State team. Appalachian State jumped into the rankings for beating an ok South Carolina team a week after losing to Georgia Southern. A three-loss Oklahoma State stayed ranked after a bye week. Iowa lost for the third time and stayed in the top 20. And that Kansas State team that just lost to a then unranked Texas team? Still ranked 24th.

The question remained where was Indiana? A team that sits at 7-2 with a loss to the number two team in the country and an ok Michigan State team. Were they just outside the top 25 since apparently they hadn’t done enough to crack the rankings? Well according to committee chair Rob Mullens, they weren’t even close.

"“Indiana, we didn’t go into great discussion about them because they weren’t even on the board.” — Committee chair Rob Mullens"

This baffles me that the Hoosiers weren’t even on the board to being discussed. There are three different three-loss teams in the rankings and Indiana wasn’t even being discussed? Iowa’s best win was against a mediocre Iowa State team, Texas lost to TCU which is similar to Indiana losing to Michigan State. Oklahoma State beat Kansas State and yes they have a win over Oklahoma but they again are far from perfect. How are these teams ranked and Indiana not even on the board?

The good news is Indiana can change that narrative this week when they travel up to ninth-ranked Penn State. But if the Hoosiers win that game will they get credit or will it all of the sudden change to the Nittany Lions not being a great team?

The question that begs to be asked is, if Michigan State had the same resume would they be ranked? Or another team with a similar brand name? The Hoosiers don’t have the appeal that some of the other schools have, and they haven’t had much success in football so are they being taken for granted because of that?

Would Alabama ever be unranked with the same record and the same results? The answer is no. So why is a team like Indiana doubted so much when other teams are given a pass? It’s all about the name and what is “best” for college football.

Yes, it is just the bottom part of the rankings but it is a huge deal for some schools and to be so blatantly disrespected as to not even be on the board is ridiculous.

The Hoosiers need to use this as motivation, prove to the country that they aren’t a fluke and go to Penn State and beat them. Will the be an underdog? Absolutely. Can they win the game? Absolutely. They want to be ranked then make them rank you.

The Hoosiers are very comfortable in who they are, the rest of the college football nation just needs to recognize that. Beat Penn State and they will.