The playoff committee just dropped their Week 11 playoff rankings, and this left the entire nation debating on who’s the no. 2. Well, the debate of who’s better between Indiana and Texas A&M ended in the Hoosiers’ favor and Fernando Mendoza’s excellence. Because of that, even a near-upset of 27-24 against Penn State didn’t impact their position.

Everyone thought that after nearly winning against a struggling 3-6 Penn State, Curt Cignetti’s Indiana would drop from the rankings and Texas A&M would finally move to No. 2. But Fernando Mendoza was the key reason behind Indiana’s comeback against Penn State, as he connected with Omar Cooper Jr. for a 7-yard touchdown with just 36 seconds left in the game. That’s what made the CFP Selection Committee put them in the no. 2 rank. As chairman Mack Rhoades said, “It was one of our longer discussions. Indiana, we gave them the edge again defensively—we talked about that last week—and certainly offensively as well. You think of Indiana’s body of work and wins going at Oregon, against Oregon, in Eugene, and the Iowa win. We certainly looked at the Texas A&M win in South Bend.”

Sure, Texas A&M had tough wins against Notre Dame, Auburn, LSU, and other teams, too, but winning against Missouri didn’t count much, as they were not playing at their full strength and were in the game with their third-string freshman QB Matt Zollers. Whereas Fernando Mendoza put up a massive game: “And Indiana found a way to find a way. Mendoza down the stretch, second-rated quarterback passing efficiency. Those were all the things that we talked about that gave Indiana the edge,” Rhoades said.

Well, his late-game winning TD instantly turned heads and created buzz with “Heisman moment” online. This made him top The Athletic Heisman Trophy straw poll of writers and editors for the fifth consecutive week. That move put him in the list of iconic Heisman moments, like Desmond Howard’s punt return pose in 1991, then Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary in 1984, and Cam Newton’s 49-yard touchdown run against LSU back in 2010. “Mendoza now has his moment—a game-winning throw on a big stage to beat a national brand,” Mitch Sherman said.

So, now you know why the committee leaned towards Indiana rather than Texas A&M. But let’s not forget, even if Mendoza comes up with late-game heroics, the Aggies have recorded three road wins over ranked teams. Sure, Indiana won against Penn State, Iowa, and Oregon, but apart from that, there’s no solid opponent. And now they are just left with teams like Wisconsin and Purdue in the regular season, whereas Texas A&M will still have to go against South Carolina, Samford, and the Texas Longhorns.

But even if the opinions are divided Fernando Mendoza is unstoppable.

Fernando Mendoza makes another big move

Well, Mendoza is not just leading the Heisman race but also grabbing the top spot in the 2026 drafts. As in a poll conducted by Pete Thamel, 25 NFL scouts voted for him, and he received 13 votes, becoming the favorite to be the first QB selected. With him were Oklahoma’s John Mateer, Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby, and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, getting one vote each.

This result marks the dramatic shift from the previous ESPN poll, where Sellers was at the top with eight votes and Garrett Nussmeier was second with seven votes. Neither Mendoza nor Ty Simpson was on the list back in September. Even Thamel sees the shift, as he said, “It’s not a stellar class. If you add the maybes [who have eligibility and could leave school], now it gets interesting. The top is better than last year’s class, for sure.”

Despite getting so many votes, Mendoza is yet to get the status of a potential no. 1 pick, but scouts continue to praise his arm talent and leadership. Let’s wait and see if all this buzz transitions well after the season ends or not.