Hoosier Huddle's College Football Playoff and Bowl Projections - November 24

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A pair of special teams blunders handed the Ohio State Buckeyes 14 points and IU’s offensive line was unable to help the Hoosiers dig out of the hole in Columbus as IU dropped to 10-1 with a 23-point defeat. In the immediate aftermath of the loss, it was widely assumed the Hoosiers would be dismissed by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee after the defeat. The remainder of the day went nearly as well as possible for the Hoosiers though. Ole Miss lost at Florida. Colorado and BYU both fell, ensuring the Big 12 is a one-bid league. In primetime, Alabama lost 24-3 in an ugly game at Oklahoma and then Texas A&M fell to 8-3 with a loss to Auburn. Despite the defeat, IU is one win over Purdue from locking up a trip to the College Football Playoff. 

College Football Playoff Projections

  1. Ohio State Buckeyes – Big Ten Champion

  2. Texas Longhorns – SEC Champion

  3. Miami Hurricanes – ACC Champion

  4. Boise State Broncos – Group of Five Selection

  5. Oregon Ducks vs. 12. Arizona State Sun Devils (Big 12 Champion)

  6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. 11. SMU Mustangs

  7. Georgia Bulldogs vs. 10. Indiana Hoosiers

  8. Penn State Nittany Lions vs. 9. Tennessee Volunteers

Big Ten Bowl Projections

I continue to have four Big Ten teams (Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State) in the College Football Playoff so the Big Ten’s bowl slotting process begins after those top four teams. Last week, I had the Hoosiers as the 11-seed and traveling to Athens to play the Georgia Bulldogs. This week, the matchup is the same but I have bumped IU to the 10-seed and Georgia to the 7-seed after the carnage in the SEC. Indiana fans can add Florida, Auburn and Oklahoma to the Christmas card list as their wins this past Saturday may have saved the Hoosiers’ playoff chances. 

Citrus Bowl – Illinois vs. Ole Miss

Reliaquest Bowl – Minnesota vs. South Carolina

Duke’s Mayo Bowl – Syracuse vs. Iowa

Music City Bowl – Michigan vs. Missouri

Independence Bowl – Nebraska vs. Utah

Pinstripe Bowl – Wisconsin vs. Georgia Tech

Holiday Bowl – Kansas State vs. Washington

Detroit Bowl – Michigan State vs. Northern Illinois 

Indiana at Georgia in College Football Playoff First Round

The Hoosiers need to beat Purdue and it would be helpful to do so comfortably. I don’t think there will really be any difference in opinion if IU wins by 24 or by 41 but IU cannot afford to throw doubt into the minds of the committee by only winning by ten points or so. A loss to Purdue would be disastrous and would absolutely end IU’s chances. IU fans should be rooting for Texas to win at Texas A&M, just to ensure the Aggies do not have a chance to steal a bid in the SEC Championship Game. In addition, it would be helpful if USC beat Notre Dame and if Miami fell to Syracuse. That would pretty much ensure the ACC would be a one-bid league and it would probably drop Notre Dame below the Hoosiers. If this projection played out, the Indiana Hoosiers would be significant underdogs at Georgia and would need to find a way to protect Kurtis Rourke if they were to have any offensive success. 

The fourth College Football Playoff rankings will be unveiled on Tuesday evening and Hoosier Huddle will have ongoing coverage of this historic Indiana season.