No. 10 Indiana will need all the help it can get from fellow teams in the College Football Playoff chase with the final week of the regular season upon us.
Indiana football will look to make one final case to the College Football Playoff selection committee tonight when it plays Purdue in the 99th Old Oaken Bucket rivalry game. However, with the final week of the regular season in motion and significant CFP implications on the line, No. 10 IU will need all the help it can get from fellow teams in the chase for the 12-team playoff.
After Indiana fell at No. 2 Ohio State in Columbus last weekend, the Hoosiers dropped five spots in the latest CFP rankings from No. 5 to No. 10. If the season ended today, Indiana would be the No. 11 seed in the playoff and traveling to play at No. 6-seed Penn State in the CFP first round.
But cracking the final CFP field is no certainty at this point for Indiana. It had its chance to control its own destiny last week against Ohio State and squandered the golden opportunity in 38-15 loss, which now leaves IU’s postseason hopes at the mercy of the selection committee.
Indiana will first have to take care of business against Purdue, and assuming the Hoosiers handle the Boilermakers as 29-point favorites, there are several other games to monitor during rivalry week. Those include Texas vs. Texas A&M, Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt, Clemson vs. South Carolina and more.
Entering Saturday, here is a guide for all the teams that Indiana fans should be rooting for and other games to watch with CFP implications. Note: Each result is ranked in order of potential CFP impact with the highest impact listed first.
Why: If Texas A&M loses, it knocks the Aggies out of a potential SEC Championship Game and completely rids of them as CFP at-large bid contenders. Texas A&M (8-3) still has a lot of work to do as the No. 20-ranked team if it’s going to sneak into the playoff, and it starts by beating the Longhorns.
Even if Texas were to lose, it likely wouldn’t be enough to completely tumble out of the playoff field, meaning both Texas A&M and Texas would have a shot at the CFP. The less teams in the mix the better for Indiana.
VANDERBILT defeats Tennessee
Why:Â No. 8 Tennessee is already sitting at two losses with one of those losses against 6-5 Arkansas. A third loss this season (and second against an unranked opponent) could be the final dagger in the Volunteers’ CFP case. Tennessee wouldn’t have a chance to absolve itself in the SEC Championship Game, either, with a loss to Vanderbilt, meaning it would likely be on the outside looking in come Selection Day.
Vanderbilt has proven to be very stingy this season with a win over Alabama and three-point losses against Texas and Missouri. Considering this rivalry game is in Nashville on the Commodores’ home turf, there could be an upset brewing.
AUBURN defeats Alabama
Why: The 13th-ranked Crimson Tide looked awful in an 24-3 defeat at Oklahoma last weekend, but a third loss wasn’t enough to completely eliminate Alabama from CFP contention. However, a fourth loss this weekend, especially against 5-6 Auburn in Tuscaloosa, would assuredly close the book on Alabama’s CFP hopes. It’s also worth noting that Alabama is already out of SEC Championship Game contention, too.
