The first top 25 College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee on ESPN.
Indiana comes in No. 2 overall in the first AP, Coaches and now CFP Poll.
With a month of regular season games left, Indiana (8-0, 6-0 Big 10) is in second place just behind No. 1 Ohio State nationally and in conference play and ahead Oregon (7-1).
The initial top-12 seeds are as follows: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Indiana, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 7 BYU, No. 8 Texas Tech, No. 9 Oregon, No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 11 Virginia, No. 12 Memphis. Memphis would receive the 12-seed due to the automatic qualifier as the highest-ranked Group of Five champion.
With the rankings released it gives us clarity, if the season ended today, it would mean the Indiana Hoosiers would receive a first-round bye and play the winner of No. 7 BYU /No. 10 Notre Dame in the quarterfinals.
According to ESPN's Football Power Index, Indiana ranks No. 2 in strength of record, No. 39 in strength of schedule and No. 26 in remaining strength of schedule. That has us wondering if Indiana should be No. 1 overall nationally, even though Ohio State is defending champions.
The College Football Playoff rankings hold extra weight this season, as the five highest-ranked conference champions are no longer guaranteed the top-five spots, a change made this offseason. Instead, seeding will be determined by the rankings, giving teams with an at-large bid the chance to earn a top-five spot in the bracket.
The field of 12 teams that earn a spot is still decided by the same criteria — the four Power-Four conference champions, the highest-ranked Group of 5 conference champion, and the seven other highest-ranked teams.
The selection committee will release new rankings every Tuesday through the end of conference championship weekend.
College Football Playoff Rankings -Week 11, Nov. 4th
No. 1 Ohio State (8-0)
No. 2 Indiana (9-0)
No. 3 Texas A&M (8-0)
No. 4 Alabama (7-1)
No. 5 Georgia (7-1)
No. 6 Ole Miss (8-1)
No. 7 BYU (8-0)
No. 8 Texas Tech (8-1)
No. 9 Oregon (7-1)
No. 10 Notre Dame (6-2)
No. 11 Texas (7-2)
No. 12 Oklahoma (7-2)
No. 13 Utah (7-2)
No. 14 Virginia (8-1)
No. 15 Louisville (7-1)
No. 16 Vanderbilt (7-2)
No. 17 Georgia Tech (8-1)
No. 18 Miami (6-2)
No. 19 USC (6-2)
No. 20 Iowa (6-2)
No. 21 Michigan (7-2)
No. 22 Missouri (6-2)
No. 23 Washington (6-2)
No. 24 Pittsburgh (7-2)
No. 25 Tennessee (6-3)