Hoosier Huddle's College Football Playoff and Bowl Projections-October 27

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In many ways, Saturday’s win over Washington felt like a celebration. ESPN’s College GameDay was in Bloomington and fans and former players celebrated Lee Corso and the 1979 Holiday Bowl squad. People flooded campus and Memorial Stadium to celebrate the outstanding 7-0 start for the Indiana Hoosiers and revel in the attention brought to the program by Curt Cignetti, his staff and his players. Longtime and long-suffering fans celebrated weeks of football that have brought so much joy after many, many years of crushing disappointment.

Of course, there was also a game to be played and despite some shaky play from backup quarterback Tayven Jackson and the passing offense, Indiana fans got to celebrate that as well. The Hoosiers beat the Washington Huskies 31-17, still have not trailed for a single second of the 2024 season and have won every game by double-digits as they improved to 8-0 on the season and 5-0 in the Big Ten. After weeks of holding off and refusing to acknowledge the possibility, we are doing it: Hoosier Huddle is projecting the Indiana Hoosiers to make the College Football Playoff. 

College Football Playoff Projections

  1. Oregon Ducks – Big Ten Champion

  2. Georgia Bulldogs – SEC Champion

  3. Clemson Tigers – ACC Champion

  4. Iowa State Cyclones – Big 12 Champion

  5. Penn State Nittany Lions vs. 12. Boise State Broncos (G5 Selection)

  6. Texas Longhorns vs. 11. Texas A&M Aggies

  7. Miami Hurricanes vs. 10. Indiana Hoosiers

  8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. 9. Ohio State Buckeyes

Big Ten Bowl Projections

I now 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. 

Citrus Bowl – Illinois vs. Ole Miss

Reliaquest Bowl – Iowa vs. Missouri

Duke’s Mayo Bowl – Syracuse vs. Wisconsin

Music City Bowl – Michigan vs. Oklahoma

Independence Bowl – Nebraska vs. Utah

Pinstripe Bowl – Minnesota vs. Georgia Tech

Holiday Bowl – Colorado vs. Washington

Guaranteed Rate Bowl – Arizona State vs. Iowa

Detroit Bowl – Michigan State vs. Northern Illinois 

Indiana at Miami in College Football Playoff First Round (12/20 or 21 Miami, FL)

I currently have the Indiana Hoosiers projected to finish the regular season at 11-1 but missing out to Penn State and Oregon for the Big Ten Championship Game. I do believe that would be enough to get the Hoosiers into the 12-team playoff field. In this case, that would mean a trip to Hard Rock Stadium to matchup with Cam Ward and the Miami Hurricanes. This projection has Clemson beating Miami in the ACC Championship Game and Miami entering this game at 12-1 and getting an at-large selection. Beyond continuing to win, there are a few things IU fans should be rooting for in order to bolster their hopes of being selected for the field: the Big 12 needs to be a one-bid league and having BYU and/or Iowa State lose a game or two prior to the Big 12 Championship Game would be helpful. Continued chaos in the SEC would be a help. Tennessee getting a second loss and Alabama accruing a third loss would be a positive as well. In my opinion, Indiana going 10-2 would leave the Hoosiers on the outside looking in and a trip to the Citrus Bowl to play someone like LSU or Ole Miss or Alabama becomes the most likely scenario.