I have a bad feeling that the Indiana-Michigan game is going to be nothing but a trap for Indiana. It's like a fight with Bernard Hopkins. If you beat him, you've beaten an old man, but if you lose, you've just gotten beat up by an old man. Michigan is dead, we think. Therefore, a win means absolutely nothing to the Hoosiers, but what would the committee (who have already declared their hatred for Indiana with a disrespectful eighth place ranking) think of a loss against the disgraced former national champions?
This is the opposite of fair, but going to college football for fairness is like going to the desert for a refreshing drink. I hope you're right, and they just beat Michigan by 20. It will do nothing but kick the can further down the road, but at least it won't give the committee an excuse to boot out Indiana, which they're clearly looking for a reason to do. It's a shame such a great team has to be backed into a corner like this. I'll be rooting hard for the Hoosiers.
I'm the resident Substack Hoosiers booster. I've been asking everybody the same question, so I'll ask you Tyler. What do you think of Indiana? Can you tolerate Miami being above Indiana in any ranking?
I personally cannot. I don't know what the committee is watching. It's not the SOS, because they had Michigan top five last year, with the same Big Ten slop. For that reason, SOS isn't really tolerable as an answer. To me, this looks like the committee just doesn't like the name Indiana. They are discriminating against the Hoosiers simply because they are the Hoosiers. How dare they try to break into our sealed off country club?
Can you see any reason other than that, because if we're all admitting that being the Indiana Hoosiers is a good enough reason for the committee to try to force them out, then what are we even doing here? Miami is a very specific point of comparison, because they are both undefeated conference leaders, but you can make any other comparisons you'd like too.
Great question. I really struggled with the rankings this week.
I think my biggest gripe was with Penn State being ranked above the Hoosiers. Indiana, or anyone else, cannot control its schedule. The Hoosiers have beaten opponents by a combined 200+ points and that should mean something. Penn State was so disappointing last week, so it sucked seeing Penn State viewed more favorably than Indiana in the initial rankings.
Miami is an interesting case. I think the 'Canes get the benefit of the doubt because they're more of a "traditional power" and have a quarterback who is a front-runner for the Heisman Trophy. That stuff matters.
I am of the opinion that Miami's defense will be its downfall. Last week, I compared the Hurricanes defense to a drunk man jumping over a bonfire for attention...at some point they're gonna get burned.
My hope is that Indiana just continues to win out and prove the doubters wrong.
What does being a traditional power have to do with anything? Perhaps more accurately, what should it have to do with anything? Is this a ranking from 2003 or 2023? Is this an aggregate ranking of the last 20 years? If so, fine. Put Miami up there, but then why is Tennessee so high? Have they done anything in the last 20 years? Traditional power status has to expire at some point. No?
Also, why can't Kurtis Rourke win the Hiesman? Just because nobody wants him to? As far as the results, he's been better than Cam Ward. The corrupt ACC has already had to bend over backwards once to help Miami out. Will they be able to get away with it twice? The committee certainly thinks so.
I have a bad feeling that the Indiana-Michigan game is going to be nothing but a trap for Indiana. It's like a fight with Bernard Hopkins. If you beat him, you've beaten an old man, but if you lose, you've just gotten beat up by an old man. Michigan is dead, we think. Therefore, a win means absolutely nothing to the Hoosiers, but what would the committee (who have already declared their hatred for Indiana with a disrespectful eighth place ranking) think of a loss against the disgraced former national champions?
This is the opposite of fair, but going to college football for fairness is like going to the desert for a refreshing drink. I hope you're right, and they just beat Michigan by 20. It will do nothing but kick the can further down the road, but at least it won't give the committee an excuse to boot out Indiana, which they're clearly looking for a reason to do. It's a shame such a great team has to be backed into a corner like this. I'll be rooting hard for the Hoosiers.
That’s a great thought process. And unfortunately, I agree.
Beating Michigan right now doesn’t have the same zest it would’ve last season. Right now, it’s all about survive and advance for the Hoosiers.
I'm the resident Substack Hoosiers booster. I've been asking everybody the same question, so I'll ask you Tyler. What do you think of Indiana? Can you tolerate Miami being above Indiana in any ranking?
I personally cannot. I don't know what the committee is watching. It's not the SOS, because they had Michigan top five last year, with the same Big Ten slop. For that reason, SOS isn't really tolerable as an answer. To me, this looks like the committee just doesn't like the name Indiana. They are discriminating against the Hoosiers simply because they are the Hoosiers. How dare they try to break into our sealed off country club?
Can you see any reason other than that, because if we're all admitting that being the Indiana Hoosiers is a good enough reason for the committee to try to force them out, then what are we even doing here? Miami is a very specific point of comparison, because they are both undefeated conference leaders, but you can make any other comparisons you'd like too.
Great question. I really struggled with the rankings this week.
I think my biggest gripe was with Penn State being ranked above the Hoosiers. Indiana, or anyone else, cannot control its schedule. The Hoosiers have beaten opponents by a combined 200+ points and that should mean something. Penn State was so disappointing last week, so it sucked seeing Penn State viewed more favorably than Indiana in the initial rankings.
Miami is an interesting case. I think the 'Canes get the benefit of the doubt because they're more of a "traditional power" and have a quarterback who is a front-runner for the Heisman Trophy. That stuff matters.
I am of the opinion that Miami's defense will be its downfall. Last week, I compared the Hurricanes defense to a drunk man jumping over a bonfire for attention...at some point they're gonna get burned.
My hope is that Indiana just continues to win out and prove the doubters wrong.
What does being a traditional power have to do with anything? Perhaps more accurately, what should it have to do with anything? Is this a ranking from 2003 or 2023? Is this an aggregate ranking of the last 20 years? If so, fine. Put Miami up there, but then why is Tennessee so high? Have they done anything in the last 20 years? Traditional power status has to expire at some point. No?
Also, why can't Kurtis Rourke win the Hiesman? Just because nobody wants him to? As far as the results, he's been better than Cam Ward. The corrupt ACC has already had to bend over backwards once to help Miami out. Will they be able to get away with it twice? The committee certainly thinks so.
And would you look at that...the Canes go down!