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CFP Committee Chair Gary Barta provides confusing reasoning for Indiana’s positioning

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Apparently, Indiana has not done much to impress the College Football Playoff Committee.

Despite a 6-1 record, the Hoosiers have been locked into the No. 12 spot on the rankings the past couple of weeks. After rebounding from the narrow loss to Ohio State, Indiana’s defense has dominated in wins over Maryland and in a road win against a previously ranked Wisconsin.

Unfortunately for Tom Allen and the Hoosiers, that ranking is now irrelevant, or so Gary Barta made it seem in his defense of the latest ranking for the Hoosiers.

When asked why Indiana remains locked out of the top 10 and behind some teams with two losses, the CFP Committee Chair indicated that Indiana does not have a single top-25 win, despite beating a Wisconsin team that was No. 16 last weekend. The Badgers dropped out of the rankings as a result of losing to the Hoosiers.

Barta did claim that the Committee “feels good” about Indiana, but the rest of his response does not appear to add up to that. Here is his response:

Among teams ahead of Indiana, No. 11 Oklahoma, No. 9 Georgia, and No. 7 Iowa State both have multiple losses. Of those teams, the Bulldogs do not have a win over a current top 25 team and their biggest claim to fame right now is getting beat soundly by both Alabama and Florida.

Beyond the current rankings, Indiana’s chances to make an impression may be taking a hit with both the Hoosiers and Purdue pausing team activities on Tuesday just days before they are supposed to square off for the Old Oaken Bucket.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.