ESPN staff writer projects Indiana in college football playoff field after Week 3

Tommy Spaletto

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ESPN staff writer projects Indiana in college football playoff field after Week 3 image

Indiana opens up Big Ten play 1-0 after a dominant 42-13 victory over UCLA in the Rose Bowl on Saturday night. The Hoosiers are off to a 3-0 start this season, the first time that has happened since 2020.

While this win has opened the eyes of the AP Top 25 Poll, which gave Indiana a couple of votes this week, an ESPN college football writer took it to a whole new level, ranking the Hoosiers at No. 11, thus putting them in the college football playoff picture.


Curt Cignetti's team has been on fire offensively. Indiana currently has the No. 11 ranked offense among FBS teams, with 119 points in the past two games. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke is ranked seventh in the country in completion percentage and inside the Top-30 in total passing yards.

The Hoosiers' schedule gets really interesting going forward. Indiana resumes Big Ten play against Maryland at home in a couple of weeks, followed by a road trip to Evanston to take on Northwestern. They will then get a bye-week before what could be an extremely intriguing game against Nebraska at home.

However, Indiana will still need to take care of business this Saturday when they host the Charlotte 49ers. The Hoosiers will be without defensive lineman CJ West and cornerback D'Angelo Ponds for the first half due to targeting penalties against UCLA. 

Tommy Spaletto

Tommy Spaletto Photo

Tommy Spaletto is a recent graduate of Indiana University with a degree in Media and a concentration in Sports Media.  In his time at Indiana University, he wrote columns, features, and game reports for The Hoosier Network covering football, men’s/women’s basketball, and women’s soccer. As a college basketball fanatic, he is patiently waiting for the Hoosiers to return to glory. Tommy currently serves as a contributing writer covering Big Ten football news, rumors, and developing stories.