CFP Chair: Ohio-Indiana Head-to-Head Not Compared

“We never got to a point where we were comparing Indiana and Ohio State in their head-to-head,” College Football Playoff selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek said, explaining why the Buckeyes’ road win over the Hoosiers did not factor into Tuesday night’s first CFP rankings. Indiana landed at No. 4 with a first-round bye while Ohio State fell to No. 12, outside the 12-team bracket — an eight-spot gap that has become the complaint in Columbus.

Why the Head-to-Head Win Didn’t Count

Yurachek’s rule requires teams to share an evaluation group, or pod, before a head-to-head result comes into play, and the committee itself decides who goes in each pod. That means a team can beat a contender on the road and never see the win applied. The committee has heard this complaint before: last December it did not place Miami next to Notre Dame until the final rankings despite Miami’s head-to-head win.

“Rece, if you recall, Miami was a loser of two of three when they entered [the first set of rankings on Nov. 4] at No. 18,” Yurachek said.

CFP Committee Chair talks initial rankings, Ohio State at 12 and more | ESPN College Football

Penalized for a Hard Schedule?

On ESPN, Greg McElroy argued that Ohio State looked penalized for playing a hard schedule. The Buckeyes’ two losses came by a point against the No. 7 Texas Longhorns and at the No. 20 USC Trojans, while their wins over Indiana and the No. 19 Iowa Hawkeyes give them two more ranked victories than Notre Dame, which sits one spot higher and makes the field.

Committee Considers Sayin's Injury

The suggestion that the committee factored in Julian Sayin’s indefinite throwing-arm injury drew sharp anger, with the RedditCFB account on X writing, “This is by far the stupidest thing the CFP does and the rule should be amended.” Yurachek pointed elsewhere, saying on ESPN, “They didn’t look like the same Ohio State team this past weekend against Southern Cal,” adding, “I don’t want the burden all on the freshman quarterback. Their offense played fairly well. They were held to four field goals through three-and-a-half quarters, but their defense gave up some really big, explosive plays.”

CFP ignores Ohio State’s head-to-head win over Indiana in first rankings

Opportunity Against Oregon

Ohio State coach Ryan Day sounded little happier than the committee after the 30-18 loss at USC, which came against a team that had just lost 24-7 to the unranked Wisconsin Badgers. “I would’ve said coming into the game that we were very close. I didn’t feel that way coming out of the game. Just being dead honest. The penalties are ridiculous. The mistakes are ridiculous. That leads me to believe that we’re not where we need to be. We have an opportunity against Oregon now to go turn that around,” Day said. The Buckeyes face No. 23 Oregon at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, and one more loss would likely end the argument along with their at-large hope.