The College Football Playoff ranking committee seems to approve of the work done by Canadian quarterback Kurtis Rourke and the Indiana Hoosiers this season.
The Hoosiers (11-1) were placed ninth in the penultimate rankings on Tuesday, which would be good enough to earn a spot in the 12-team playoff later this month. Indiana moved up one spot from last week after a season-ending 66-0 win over lowly Purdue.
The nine conference championships this weekend will set up the final rankings on Sunday. The five highest-ranked conference champions (the top four will get the top four seeds and the fifth can be placed anywhere) will join seven at-large teams in the field.
Indiana currently would be the No. 10 seed and hit the road to face No. 7 Georgia in the first round.
Indiana, featuring transfer quarterback Rourke and first-year coach Curt Cignetti, has had its best season in school history.
Alabama (9-3) currently is the last at-large bid team at No. 11. Potential Mountain West champion Boise State is No. 10.
That means a potential bid stealer like Clemson, which faces No. 8 SMU in this week’s Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, likely would unseat Alabama rather than Indiana in the final rankings.
While its strength of schedule is not as strong as other playoff contenders, Indiana’s excellent win-loss record seems to be speaking loudest to the committee.
Earlier Tuesday, Rourke was named the second-team all-Big-Ten team quarterback. The native of Oakville, Ont. threw for 27 touchdowns and four interceptions this year.
Meanwhile, Miami’s playoff hopes took a potentially fatal nosedive while Alabama’s got a boost.
The Hurricanes (10-2) moved down six spots, to No. 12 — the first team out of the projected bracket after suffering their second loss of the season. They are one spot behind the Crimson Tide (9-3), who won last week and moved up two spots to No. 11, where they are projected as the last team in.
It was the strongest indication yet that the selection committee is looking at more than mere wins and losses, but also at strength of schedule and other factors that appear to give the Southeastern Conference an edge.
Oregon stayed at No. 1 for the fifth straight week and will head into Saturday’s Big Ten title game as the only undefeated team in big-time college football.
The playoff games start Dec. 20, with the title game set for Jan. 20 in Atlanta.