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David Pollack Names College Football Playoff Team That Won't Return in 2025

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jaron Spor | Last updated Jul 8, 2025 10:00 AM ET

The 2024 College Football Playoff marked the inaugural year of the 12-team playoff format. This new structure brought a sense of balance to the postseason tournament, with six teams making their first appearance and six teams returning for another shot.

Experience proved to be a significant advantage during the national championship, which featured familiar foes: the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, both of whom had participated in previous playoffs. However, it had been several seasons since their last appearance.

One of the notable newcomers in the 2024 playoffs was the Indiana Hoosiers, who finished with an impressive 11-2 record. Coincidentally, their losses were against Ohio State in the regular season and a 27-17 defeat to Notre Dame in the first round of the playoffs.

On his podcast, "See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack," David Pollack expressed doubts about Indiana's chances of returning to the playoff in 2025.

"I didn't put Indiana in," Pollack said. "I didn't put them in this year. I think that they have a chance, but I think they're going to lose at least two games this season. The 'ats' worry me, for sure. I think they're going to be good. I think they're going to be really good, and they're going to beat people. They're going to cause chaos in their league. But I've got Indiana just on the outside looking in."

ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI) is a metric designed to evaluate team strength and predict future performance. The FPI indicates how many points a team is above or below average.

This season, the FPI is not particularly optimistic about the Hoosiers, ranking them as the 31st-best team in the nation and eighth in the Big Ten. The FPI predicts a decline in their record, predicting Indiana to go 7-5 in the upcoming season. Additionally, the FPI gives Indiana only a 0.9% chance of winning the Big Ten and an 8.9% chance of making the College Football Playoff this year.

These predictions may also reflect Indiana's outlook for 2025. The Hoosiers are ranked 44th in the country and are set to return 61% of their production. A significant loss for the team is quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who recorded a single-season school record of 29 passing touchdowns in 2024 and finished ninth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

Fernando Mendoza, a transfer from the California Golden Bears, will succeed Rourke. Mendoza threw for 3,004 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions, and completed 68.7% of his passes in 2024. The Hoosiers will benefit from the return of EDGE Mikail Kamara, who opted to return for a second season at Indiana. Kamara recorded 10 sacks last season, ranking fourth in the Big Ten and the highest among returning players.

The Hoosiers will kick off their season against the Old Dominion Monarchs at 2:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 30.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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