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ESPN’s Heather Dinich dissects CFP implications from Indiana-Ohio State matchup

Cory Nightingale

By Cory Nightingale

Published:

ESPN college football analyst Heather Dinich went on Get Up on Wednesday morning and told the country exactly what Saturday’s Indiana-Ohio State showdown could mean for next week’s College Football Playoff rankings.

The 10-0 Hoosiers, ranked 5th in Tuesday night’s CFP rankings, head to Columbus on Saturday to face 9-1 Ohio State, ranked 2nd in the Playoff rankings, in 1 of the biggest matchups of the college football season. No matter who prevails on Saturday, it’s going to shake up next Tuesday’s rankings and affect a lot of other teams.

“The committee will be looking (at) if this is a close game. I can’t stress that enough,” said Dinich. “If this is lopsided one way or another, the answer is very clear. They are set up as to whoever loses, it’s a loss to a top-5 team. That is a good loss. … But Ohio State is different. That (would be) a 2-loss team.”

Dinich’s point about Ohio State is that if the Buckeyes lose, they would then be in uncharted territory in being compared to all those 2-loss SEC teams that are trying to squeeze their way into the Playoff as well.

Of course, if Ohio State loses a close game, as Dinich pointed out, then that loss could be looked at as different than if Indiana went into Columbus and beat the Buckeyes handily. On the other hand, the Hoosiers are fighting against the narrative of a poor strength of schedule, and IU getting blown out could lead to a steep drop.

We’ll know a lot more at about 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday when the dust settles in The Horseshoe.

Cory Nightingale