Curt Cignetti calls out College Football Playoff rankings after Indiana’s fall

When the latest College Football Playoff rankings dropped Tuesday night, one of the biggest stories was Indiana’s fall from No. 4 to No. 9 despite not having played over the weekend.

“Indiana was probably the victim of having a bye week at the wrong time, a time where there were seven games within our top 25,” said CFP chairman Hunter Yurachek, via 247Sports. “Some of those big wins occurred right around where they were, starting with Notre Dame’s big win over Miami, Texas over Missouri, UCLA win on the road and beat a Minnesota team, a Minnesota team that had gone to Indiana the week prior. Indiana needed a 60-yard field goal as time expired to send that game into overtime and win that game.”

It didn’t help, Yurachek said, that every Big Ten team IU had played so far lost over the weekend.

“Every team that Indiana played, had played to date in the Big Ten, they all lost. So the six losses that went against their record strength as well as their strength of schedule. Those metrics affected the committee’s review of Indiana this week, as well,” he added.

Cignetti weighs in

Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti, who has previously criticized the rankings and ESPN for having an alleged pro-SEC bias, clearly isn’t buying Yurachek’s explanation.

“Bad losses don’t count anymore?” he tweeted Thursday afternoon, including several crying laughing emojis. “Are first downs still 10 yards?”

It’s not entirely clear what Cignetti is referring to, though it might be the resume of 7-2 Texas, which was ranked three spots ahead of the Hoosiers (8-1) on Tuesday. The Longhorns have several quality wins, but also suffered back-to-back losses to Florida and Oklahoma, both 5-4.

Texas is one of three two-loss SEC teams ahead of Indiana, along with No. 8 Tennessee and No. 3 Alabama.

Still lots of football left

Indiana understandably feels shafted by the committee, having gone from a first-round bye to a first-round road game without even taking the field. However, there is still time for things to play out.

It’s true that Indiana’s 8-1 record is light on marquee wins, but they can change that on Saturday, when the Hoosiers host USC, who is No. 18 in the current CFP rankings. Meanwhile, Texas has to survive a road game in Death Valley against LSU, which is 6-3 and needs to win out to have any chance of sneaking into the 12-team playoff field.

The only rankings that ultimately count are the final ones, which will be unveiled on Sunday, December 6.

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