Indiana hasn’t done this. Indiana hasn’t done that. Well, Indiana didn’t lose to a washed-up Michigan team who don’t even have a real quarterback and has to rely on a walk-on. Say whatever you want about the Hoosiers and Curt Cignetti, one thing is for sure; this team has managed to style on all the others this season. Yeah, this entire conversation of “But they lost to OSU” is going to be played out all the time, but the Buckeyes lost a home game to a much worse Wolverines team. Yeah, Curt Cignetti couldn’t keep up his end of the bargain against Ryan Day, but Indiana still has an 11-win season and OSU ain’t even going to their conference title showdown.

And it looks like all this chaos with the recent losses and everything has managed to make Cignetti much more comfortable. Back during the Coach Postgame Q&A, Cignetti remains unshaken as he clears out what’s next for the Hoosiers. “Yeah, we’ll sit down with the assistant coaches, the players, and me for one-on-one meetings and talk about, you know, the season and talk about next year and stuff like that,” Cignetti mentioned. Hey, let’s get one thing straight. The OSU loss didn’t kill the Hoosiers, it made them stronger. While it did make people bring up the entire “Indiana has not played a single good team this year” topic, the loss also acted as somewhat of a rat poison for Cignetti.

Going up against Purdue, the Hoosiers managed to snag a blowout 66-point game. Kurtis Rourke was nothing short of magnificent. This guy managed to bring in 6 touchdowns, along with 349 yards and landed 23 passes.

And even the defense was amazing. Jailin Walker went OFF against the Purdue offense. Five massive tackles, along with a sack and a solid interception, to turn things around. With all of that set, while Indiana has fallen from its previous No.5 seed spot, they are still on the 9th seed in the bracket.

Now the question is; will this be a good thing? See, keep one thing in mind; this weekend was a wild ride because the losses we have seen could open the gates to some other very competitive teams to enter the playoffs and this whole thing will mess up the rankings. If Indiana holds onto the 9th seed and Georgia falls in the SEC Championship, we might just see Cignetti and Kirby Smart face off in a wild Round 1 playoff matchup. And that, folks, is a problem.

Going up against the Bulldogs

Cignetti and Co. are on the 9th spot and this means that there is a high chance they will be paired against Georgia. We all know what any fan might be thinking right out. This entire game would end up becoming a stat-padding showdown for the Dawgs.

See, if OSU was Anakin Skywalker, Georgia is Darth Vader. Yeah, both are the same, but Darth is the more evolved and dangerous version, and frankly, Indiana stands no shot. Their offense, while good, cannot bring in enough points against a Georgia team that is finally back in shape.

Kirby Smart and Co. will be coming off of that SEC title game and they will want their hands on that natty. The only way Indiana has even a single chance at serving the playoffs is if they get paired against maybe Penn State.