LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Oregon will be ranked No. 1 Tuesday night when the college football playoff committee issues its first set of rankings for 2024 and the new 12-team playoff.
Unbeaten team with a victory over a top-5 opponent from the league that produced last season's national champion.
Case closed.
Georgia will be ranked second. One-loss team dripping with NFL talent that toppled Texas in Austin when the Longhorns were ranked No. 1.
Sorry, Miami. If you think the committee will go two deep in its rankings without including the top team from the Southeastern Conference, then you must believe Paul Finebaum has a full head of wavy hair.
But after that there is going to be a wild and relentless hissing contest.
And the more that I looked at what people are already saying, there is one team likely to lead the discussion in "You Gotta Be Kiddin' Me!" scenarios.
Indiana.
Curt Cignetti's unbeaten Hoosiers.
The 9-0 squad that ignited the latest round of screaming and squawking last weekend. Behind for the first time all season (10-0) in East Lansing, the Hoosiers pinned 47 consecutive points on Michigan State and polished their resume by making certain that all nine of their wins were by two touchdowns or more.
That bumped the Hoosiers five spots in the the most prominent human poll, as IU jumped from No. 13 to No. 8 in the Associated Press Top 25. Basketball season has been put on hold in Bloomington.
IU passed two teams that were beaten — Texas A&M (thanks, South Carolina) and Clemson (thanks, Louisville) — as well as two teams that were not beaten.
Those two teams were Brigham Young and Notre Dame. Somebody please check Lou Holtz's blood pressure monitor.
Now comes the rankings that matter. The ones that are not supposed to be flavored by where all these teams started the seasons in a particular poll.
That's one of the primary problems with human polls. If you start in one of the front rows, you're going to be there awhile. If you start in the back, rotsa ruck.
And, understandably, Indiana did not earn any poll votes until after the Hoosiers went to Pasadena and treated UCLA like the freshman team, winning 42-13. That was the first time IU received any poll votes since the Hoosiers lost two of their first three gams to begin the 2021 season.
But what will the committee say about the Hoosiers?
Will they agree with Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated?
He ranks the top dozen teams every week. This week Forde put the Hoosiers No. 5 — the top at-large selection, leaving them behind Oregon, Georgia. BYU and Miami, the four current leaders of the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and Atlantic Coast conferences.
Don't show that to Jerry Palm of CBS Sports.
Palm has Indiana ranked closer to No. 15 than No. 5. The Hoosiers are not in his top 12 — and Palm hinted that he won't move IU into his playoff teams even if they defeat defending national champion Michigan on Saturday in Bloomington to win 10 games for the first time in school history.
Palm is not impressed by Indiana's schedule, labeling it "by far the worst of any team under consideration in these projections."
For the record, IU's strength of schedule in the Sagarin ratings is No. 81, the easiest of any team in Sagarin's top 40.
Do you know who has been impressed that Indiana beat Nebraska by 49 exactly one week before Ohio State beat the Cornhuskers by seven?
The Colley Matrix computer ratings, which were one of the six formulas used in the retired Bowl Championship Series. IU is ranked No. 5 in Colley Matrix, behind Oregon, Miami, Ohio State and BYU, despite a SOS of 105.
Do you know which formula noticed that Indiana went to UCLA and won by 29 a month before Penn State beat the Bruins by 16 points in State College, Pennsylvania?
The rankings of Dr. Peter Wolfe, another guy whose numbers were valued by the BCS. The Hoosiers are No. 7 in the Wolfe formula, three spots ahead of Penn State.
What do the four other BCS formulas say?
Jeff Sagarin puts Indiana No 12, just behind LSU.
Kenneth Massey has IU No. 11, behind Ole Miss, but ahead of BYU, LSU, Texas A&M and Iowa State.
And Richard Billingsley posted Cignetti's team as No. 8, ahead of Tennessee, Alabama, LSU, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Missouri and several other programs certain to annoy Finebaum and his legendary legion of callers.
I could not find Anderson/Hester rankings for this season but Indiana's composite ranking from 62 different formulas is No. 4, behind only Oregon, Ohio State and Miami.
But if you're scoring at home and keeping it to the five available BCS numbers, that is 5, 7, 12, 11 and 8.
Add them. That's 43.
Divide by five.
That's 8.6.
Closer to Pat Forde's No. 5 than Jerry Palm's "They Don't Belong."
Should be a fascinating Tuesday night.
Indiana Football Coverage:
- Indiana football dominates Michigan State 47-10, secures 1st 9-0 start in program history
- BOZICH | Perfect Indiana overcomes imperfections, Washington for 31-17 win
- BOZICH | Unbeaten Indiana flattens Nebraska, 56-7, makes its Top 10 case
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