Urban Meyer answers if Indiana is the team to beat in College Football Playoff

In just two years, head coach Curt Cignetti has seemingly done the impossible. He took an Indiana team that had gone 3-9 the year before he got there and brought them to the College Football Playoff in 2024. Despite most predictions, he’d repeat that in 2025, this time winning the Big Ten and earning the No. 1 seed in what was the best season in program history.

Now, Urban Meyer thinks that Indiana is a very real threat to win it all this season. He explained on The Triple Option that, given what they’ve proven during the regular season, that you have to take the Hoosiers seriously.

“I think so,” Urban Meyer said. “Because the three wins they had were real wins. Once again, on the field, they did it. They went to Oregon and beat Oregon. They went to Penn State, I know, but Penn State had, on paper, better players than Indiana, they beat them. And then they went to Ohio State, arguably the most talented team in the country, and beat them. So, I think they are going in. They are the No. 1 team in America.”

What has been remarkable about Indiana is that the Hoosiers have found their success despite having less talent, according to recruiting rankings, than other teams in the field. That means that teams like Georgia, Ohio State, and Oregon are still going to be massive threats.

“Can they run in the same speed? I watched that damn Georgia team, man. That’s the sh*t that I’m used to seeing in the SEC. They look real. They look real, real,” Meyer said. “But, to answer your question, yes. A firm yes.”

Urban Meyer wasn’t alone in that feeling. His co-host Mark Ingram quickly agreed, sharing that he thinks Indiana is going to be “a problem” in this season’s College Football Playoff.

Indiana is going to get a first round bye as the top overall seed. There, the Hoosiers await the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup. That’s between Oklahoma and Alabama. So, after a year in which Indiana won its first Big Ten Championship since 1967, the Hoosiers are going to have their chance to prove themselves against one of those SEC teams that Meyer referenced.

For now, Indiana is going to rest up from the Big Ten Championship Game and look to go into the College Football Playoff as healthy as possible. Their first game is scheduled for January 1st in the Rose Bowl.