But anyone paying attention over the last 24 hours knew the only sure thing beyond the Hoosiers was that the playoff selection committee was destined to get picked apart when it released the pairings for this season’s 12-team bracket on Sunday.
Most of that second-guessing will be coming from Notre Dame, which was passed over for Alabama and Miami for two bubble spots. The Fighting Irish dropped two notches in the CFP rankings over the last two weeks, to No. 11, despite a 10-game winning streak, winning their finale by 29 points and simply sitting on the couch Saturday.
A few hours after being left out, the Irish said they would skip bowl season altogether this year.
Alabama is still in the mix after not moving at all in the CFP rankings despite a 28-7 loss to No. 3 Georgia that looked worse than that.
No. 10 Miami didn’t play either, but the Hurricanes’ 27-24 win over Notre Dame in Week 1 played a role once the teams were grouped right next to each other after BYU lost its game on Saturday and dropped one spot.
The committee’s other key decision was choosing James Madison over Duke for the final spot. The selection left the Atlantic Coast Conference champion out of the mix, but didn’t fully exclude the ACC because Miami made it.
The rest of the field includes No. 2 seed Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Texas Tech, which all joined Indiana in getting first-round byes.
The Hoosiers moved up to No. 1 with their 13-10 win over the Buckeyes on Saturday — their first Big Ten title since 1967 — and their 1-2 positioning sets up a possible rematch in the national title game Jan. 19.
Then it was No. 5 seed Oregon, followed by Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Alabama, Miami, American champion Tulane and James Madison of the Sun Belt.
The playoffs start Dec. 19 with No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Oklahoma. On Dec. 20, it’s No. 10 Miami at No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 11 Tulane at No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 12 James Madison at No. 5 Oregon.
The winners move to the quarterfinals, which will feature Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve, then Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl, Indiana in the Rose Bowl and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.
PHOTO: Indiana grabbed the top slot in the CFP bracket with a win over Ohio State. (AP Photo AJ Mast)
On the Net:
AP College Football Playoff bracket and page
