On Tuesday night, the first College Football Playoff ranking of 2025 was released, and Indiana was ranked No. 2.

In the team's second season under coach Curt Cignetti, Indiana has been one of the best teams in the country. The Hoosiers are 9-0 and 6-0 in Big Ten play. They have wins over No. 9 Oregon and No. 20 Iowa.

Ohio State (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) is ranked at No. 1, as the Buckeyes are the only team ranked above Indiana. The reigning champions are one of the three undefeated teams left in the country, alongside Indiana and Texas A&M. Indiana and Ohio State are not on each other's regular-season schedule.

“We really, really felt like Ohio State and Indiana were close," said Mack Rhoades, the chair of the selection committee. "… But when we looked at tape, we looked at metrics, we felt like Ohio State was a little bit better up front on the offensive line, and we felt like they were better defensively.”

If Indiana and Ohio State both win out, they will play each other in the Big Ten championship in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Dec. 6. Indiana has lost its last 30 meetings against Ohio State, including a 38-15 defeat in a top-five showdown in Columbus last season. The Hoosiers haven't beaten the Buckeyes since 1987.

Last season, Indiana made its first College Football Playoff after an 11-1 regular season campaign. Indiana was the 10-seed in the bracket (although it was ranked No. 8), and it lost 27-17 in the first round at Notre Dame.

This year's playoff has been altered to guarantee each of the top four teams a bye to the quarterfinal round. In 2024, the first year of the 12-team playoff, only teams that won their conference championship earned a bye. That led to Texas and Penn State, who were ranked third and fourth, respectively, not getting byes, while Boise State and Arizona State, who were ninth and 12th, respectively, got byes.

That could be an impactful change for Indiana, should it make the Big Ten championship but lose. In the current projection, the Hoosiers get a bye to the quarterfinal round despite being ranked behind Ohio State, a team in their conference. Indiana would play the winner of No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 7 BYU in this projection.

Indiana plays at Penn State this week before hosting Wisconsin next week. The Hoosiers will then have a bye week before wrapping up the regular season at Purdue on Friday, Nov. 28. They have a legitimate opportunity to win their first Big Ten championship since 1967 and first national championship ever. 

This was the first of six installments of College Football Playoff rankings. The final ranking will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 7, the day after the Big Ten championship.