Warde Manuel reveals how College Football Playoff committee views outcome of Indiana vs Ohio State

A Top-5 showdown highlighted the Week 13 slate as Indiana and Ohio State squared off at The Horseshoe. Ultimately, the Buckeyes got a blowout victory over the Hoosiers, and all eyes turned toward Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings to see how the committee viewed that outcome.

Of course, Indiana wasn’t the only top-ranked team to fall last week. Multiple others did, as well, which likely helped the Hoosiers stay in the Top 10. According to committee chair Warde Manuel, IU has the resume to be the No. 10 team in the country.

Manuel pointed out it wasn’t all bad for Indiana in last week’s matchup. The Hoosiers had some good moments, notably the opening drive. Although they dropped five spots, Manuel said IU still did enough to be in the Top 10.

“We viewed Indiana – they played well at times against Ohio State,” Manuel said on the CFP rankings reveal show on ESPN. “And Ohio State pulled out a victory and really came on in the second half of that game. But we were impressed with some of the things that Indiana did. And they dropped five, but we still felt that their body of work was strong enough to remain in the Top 10.”

Indiana’s strength of schedule was a key point of conversation entering last week’s game. The Hoosiers’ schedule ranked No. 106 in the country through Week 12, according to ESPN, which was the second-weakest of the College Football Playoff Top 25. After the Ohio State game, though, IU’s schedule now ranks No. 51.

Of course, the numbers also back up Indiana’s case to be one of the top teams. The Hoosiers rank No. 9 in the nation in scoring defense and No. 2 in scoring offense. That’s why, after Saturday’s game, Curt Cignetti scoffed at a question about whether they should still be in the 12-team field before answering with a wink and smile.

“Is that a serious question?” Cignetti said in his postgame press conference, with a smirk. “I’m not even gonna answer that one. The answer’s so obvious.”