Do college football teams need to have a brand now to get what they deserve? The 2024 first College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday night and the biggest talk has centered around Curt Cignetti and Indiana. Despite winning the season with an undefeated 9-0 record, they only managed to top the list on No. 8, generating raw opinions from fans and analysts. Some reactions are even as surprising as the result itself! 

We can’t leave Joel Klatt out of the conversation when it is to do with Curt Cignetti and Indiana snub. This isn’t the first time he slammed the higher community for their bias towards the Hoosiers. In a new YouTube episode on The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast on November 7, he said, “Indiana and BYU were ranked way too low… There’s only one conclusion for Indiana and BYU being where they are and that is brand bias.” 

The Fox Sports analyst backed up his claims saying that if the eye test is used to rank the teams, “Indiana would be far better and far higher than what they are right now in the ranking.” As for their performance resume, the Hoosiers have destroyed every team they’ve met by 14 points or more, averaging 29 points per game. They lead the nation at No. 2 and No. 7 in scoring offense and scoring defense, respectively. 

As Joel Klatt further pointed out, “The inconsistency of the college football playoff committee is what is so infuriating for me. It’s infuriating which speaks to a clear brand bias in that room.” What if Indiana didn’t fall 9-27 in the last three seasons? What if they’re a National Championship team? Perhaps then, they’ll be a top 3? But wait, there are some whose reactions are even more shocking than Indiana being at No. 8. 

Curt Cignetti and Indiana continue to fire hot debate 

Call Paul Finebaum a critical critic but he’s a tough one to impress. Despite the success that Indiana has been enjoying this season, it’s not good enough for him. In an ESPN First Take appearance, he bluntly said, “I know I’ll upset all the folks in Bloomington but I’m still not sure what Indiana has done, that they’ve beaten some very mediocre, non-conference teams.”

But as far as their strength of schedule is concerned, they’re still snubbed considering last season’s situation with Michigan. Tom Fornelli also expressed his disdain at the bias saying, “Take Indiana’s exact resume, take off the Indiana logo, put on the Michigan logo, is Indiana 8th?” Michigan was No. 3 in the first CFP rankings last season with an “almost identical strength of schedule, almost identical strength of record, almost identical strength like number record of teams.” In times like this, we can only remember Deion Sanders Jr.’s trademark quote, “The rejected will be respected.” We’ll see what lies in store for the Hoosiers.