For the first time in program history, Indiana is the Big Ten champion and No. 1 team in college football following Saturday night’s 13-10 triumph over Ohio State. The win catapults the Hoosiers to the top spot in Sunday’s updated AP Top 25 rankings. Behind Heisman frontrunner Fernando Mendoza at quarterback and a Herculean defensive effort, the Hoosiers were elite in the red zone, highlighted by a fourth-and-1 stop at their own 5 late in the third quarter.
Indiana will enter the College Football Playoff as the top seed and will play in the Rose Bowl against the winner of the 8-9 game. Ohio State previously held 61 of a possible 66 first-place votes entering the Big Ten Championship Game with the Hoosiers getting the other five before the Buckeyes’ 16-game winning streak dating back to last season ended.
Week 16 AP Top 25 rankings
First-place votes in parentheses
- Indiana (66)
- Georgia
- Ohio State
- Texas Tech
- Oregon
- Ole Miss
- Texas A&M
- Oklahoma
- Notre Dame
- Miami
- Alabama
- BYU
- Vanderbilt
- Texas
- Utah
- USC
- Tulane
- Michigan
- James Madison
- Virginia
- Arizona
- Navy
- North Texas
- Georgia Tech
- Missouri