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Jake Trotter, ESPN Senior Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Indiana coach Curt Cignetti didn’t think he needed to say it. Following Saturday’s 38-15 loss at Ohio State, do his upstart Hoosiers still belong in the 12-team playoff?
“Is that a serious question?” Cignetti responded defiantly. “I’m not even going to answer that one. The answer’s so obvious.”
Cignetti then smiled and nodded yes with a wink before exiting the postgame podium.
Tuesday will reveal whether the playoff selection committee agrees.
Indiana’s potential inclusion — or exclusion — figures to be the most controversial playoff storyline ahead of the final week of the regular season.
Before traveling to Columbus, the fifth-ranked Hoosiers (10-1) had been one of the most dominant teams in the country, reaching double-digit wins for the first time in program history.
They also became the first team since 1998 to start 8-0 without trailing once. All but one of the Hoosiers’ wins came by at least two touchdowns.
But the Hoosiers, who face 1-10 instate rival Purdue next weekend, will finish without a top-25 win. Indiana’s strength of schedule ranked just 106th coming into the Ohio State game.
The Hoosiers scored a touchdown on their opening drive to take their first lead over Ohio State in five years.
But the Buckeyes rolled the rest of the way, holding Indiana to just 53 yards in the first half, its lowest total in a first half in 10 years, according to ESPN Research.
Ohio State led 31-7 before the teams traded meaningless touchdowns in the final two minutes. Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who was second nationally in QBR (88.1), completed just 8 of 18 passes for 68 yards while taking five sacks.
“We couldn’t protect the quarterback,” Cignetti said. “Every time we dropped back to pass, something bad happened. … it was like a nightmare.”
Special teams proved to be nightmarish for the Hoosiers, as well.
Just before halftime, Indiana punter James Evans mishandled the snap and was tackled at the Hoosiers’ 7-yard line. The Buckeyes punched the ball in the end zone three plays later to take a 14-7 lead into half.
Then, following an Indiana three-and-out to begin the third quarter, Ohio State’s Caleb Downs returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown to ignite the onslaught. Indiana fell to 1-71 all time against AP Top 5 opponents, according to ESPN Research.
“We didn’t handle the noise very well,” Cignetti said of playing in Ohio Stadium. “We didn’t play our best game today. But I think a big part of that was because of them.”
The Hoosiers did get some help later Saturday afternoon.
Florida knocked off Ole Miss 24-17, effectively removing the ninth-ranked Rebels (8-3) from the playoff conversation. But both the Big 12 and ACC could have multiple teams vying for playoff consideration.
Still, Rourke said he believes Indiana’s overall body of work should show that the Hoosiers are worthy of an at-large playoff bid.
“I hope so. We trust ourselves against anybody,” said Rourke, adding that he hopes to get a rematch with Ohio State “at some point” in the playoffs.
“Next week is a big game,” Rourke said. “We’ve got to go handle Purdue, and then move on take one game at a time.”