The Indiana Hoosiers are right on the outside looking in of the elite class of College Football Playoff contenders, says The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel. A win over the Oregon Ducks next week in Eugene would get IU in that exclusive club.
That club, Mandel writes, also includes the Ohio State Buckeyes and Miami Hurricanes, and no SEC schools. IU, Oregon, OSU, and “The U” are all 5-0 through the first five games of the season.
The BYU Cougars, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Memphis Tigers, Missouri Tigers, Navy Midshipmen, North Texas Mean Green, Ole Miss Rebels, Oklahoma Sooners, Texas A&M Aggies, Texas Tech Red Raiders, and UNLV Rebels are college football’s other unbeaten teams through Week 6.
“To me, the Buckeyes, Ducks and Canes, all 5-0, have separated themselves into their own tier, while Indiana can make its case next week in Eugene. Interestingly, none of those teams hail from the SEC,” Mandel wrote.
IU’s record is under scrutiny for a one-hit-wonder resume that includes a 63-10 destruction of the Illinois Fighting Illini, but also the uninspiring Iowa Hawkeyes, the Group of 5 Old Dominion Monarchs and Kennesaw State Owls, and the FCS Indiana State Sycamores. Like last season, there’s skepticism about whether the Hoosiers are for real.
Their next opponent, the Ducks, is definitely for real. Oregon’s 30-24 double-overtime win over the Penn State Nittany Lions was one of the best wins of the season before PSU embarrassed themselves in a 42-37 loss to the previously winless UCLA Bruins.
Ohio State has looked completely infallible, outscoring opponents 187-25. Ryan Day may have built the new sustainable juggernaut in Columbus in the same vein as Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide football dynasty.
Miami has two close wins against ranked opponents, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Florida State Seminoles, and dominant wins over the USF Bulls and Florida Gators. Given their schedule, the Hurricanes are the likeliest unbeaten to remain that way by season’s end.
Indiana-Oregon will take place at 3:30 ET/12:30 PT this Saturday on CBS. The loser of that may not be looked at the same way next Sunday.