Indiana establishes itself as team to beat in CFP with Big Ten championship

If you were one of the few people still not ready to buy into the Indiana Hoosiers, it is time to start. With their 13-10 win over Ohio State on Saturday night, they not only won the Big Ten championship for the first time since 1967, but they also completed a perfect 13-0 regular season and are going to go into the College Football Playoff as the No. 1 team. 

Indiana delivers emphatic statement that it is the team to beat

At this point, there is not much else for Indiana to prove that it is one of the elite teams in the country. 

While the 2024 playoff team mostly got by without many signature wins, this year's team has now delivered two of them with a road win at No. 5 Oregon and now a neutral site win over No. 1 Ohio State.

That is going to send Indiana into the quarterfinal with a bye in the playoffs, while also giving it the top seed. It is about as good a position as any team could be in, and it is well deserved for the Hoosiers. 

Saturday's game showed just how far Indiana has come from even last year's team. 

The Hoosiers were more in control of the line of scrimmage (on both sides of the ball) and completely shut down Ohio State's offense. They forced turnovers, created pressure in the passing game and made several crucial stops in the red zone. They also received a gift late in the game when Ohio State elected to go for what appeared to be a chip-shot field goal on fourth-and-one instead of going for it and trying to take the lead.

The kick ended up missing, preserving Indiana's lead. 

The biggest difference-maker for Indiana, however, was the play of quarterback Fernando Mendoza. 

He took a huge hit on the first play of the game and appeared to be down in agonizing pain. But after missing just one play, he was able to return to the game and completed 15-of-23 passes for 222 yards (9.7 yards per pass) and a touchdown, while also making some huge throws late in the game to help put the game away. 

They showed on Saturday that they have the defense.

They have a Heisman Trophy-contending quarterback.

They showed again that they can beat any team in the country. 

Everybody should now be on notice going into the playoffs.