Hoosier #1 team?
FBS Playoff Chase, October 21, 2024
Indiana’s 56–7 whipping of the previously 5–1 Nebraska Cornhuskers might lead one to assume that the 49-point margin of victory is why the Hoosiers took sole possession of first place in the FBS Playoff Chase.
Well, seventeen of those points are the reason as that is sufficient proof of a whipping. If Indiana won by nine, they’d still be in first place, although just one Playoff Chase point ahead of BYU, Oregon, and Texas. If they had beaten Nebraska by one possession (1–8 points), they’d be tied for the lead with those teams.
The main reason Indiana is on top is that Nebraska has five wins. They are credited to Indiana’s account. That, and the fact that Indiana’s whipping nearly everybody they play. Their narrowest margin of victory so far is 14 points.
Much of the Playoff Chase formula goes like this: The sum of the victories by the opponents you’ve beaten, minus the sum of the losses of the opponents you’ve been beaten by. The margin of victory plays a role, but only up to a point. A blowout is a blowout if it’s by 21 or 51, and there’s no merit in rolling up the score when, for whatever reason, the other team has been on the ropes all game.
