Indiana University’s first loss of the season led to a precipitous drop in the rankings.
The Hoosiers fell five spots from No. 5 to No. 10 in both the AP Top 25 and the AFCA Coaches Poll.
Indiana lost 38-15 to No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday to drop to 10-1 (7-1 Big Ten) on the season. They could still make the Big Ten Championship Game with a lot of help: they need Michigan to beat Ohio State in “The Game” and a loss from Penn State against Maryland.
If that were to happen—and IU beats Purdue in the annual Bucket Game—the Hoosiers would finish the season with one loss while Ohio State and Penn State would each have two. It would set up a conference championship clash against No. 1 Oregon.
Indiana’s cleanest path, obviously, was to somehow come away with a win against Ohio State, but too many things went wrong against the Buckeyes, including a pair of key special teams breakdowns.
The Hoosiers will now have to wait to see how they stand in the College Football Playoff rankings when they come out Tuesday night.
While the loss to Ohio State put a damper on the weekend, IU received some considerable help. Alabama and Mississippi both lost to unranked teams and dropped in both polls. They’ll likely see a similar drop in the CFP rankings.
Texas A&M, another SEC team, lost to unranked Auburn, giving them three losses on the season. The Aggies also dropped five spots in the polls.