Indiana University Football is Number 1 in the College Football Playoff and will Play in the Rose Bowl Indiana football is three wins from a national title, and they’ve earned the most favorable path to get there. After a perfect 13-0 season and Big Ten title, IU is the No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 College Football Playoff. The Hoosiers are also the No. 1 team for the first time ever in the new AP Poll released Sunday afternoon. The CFP bracket was revealed live on ESPN Sunday afternoon. In the Rose Bowl, Indiana will face the winner of No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 9 Alabama. The Rose Bowl kicks off at 4 p.m. ET on Jan. 1 (ESPN). If the Hoosiers advance to the national semifinals, that game will be the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on Jan. 9. Texas Tech, Oregon and James Madison are the possible opponents in that game. Three teams from the Big Ten were in the national top-5, as Ohio State (No. 2) and Oregon (No. 5) were also included in the CFP.
FINAL CFP RANKINGS
| RANK | TEAM | OVERALL RECORD |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indiana | 13-0 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 12-1 |
| 3 | Georgia | 12-1 |
| 4 | Texas Tech | 12-1 |
| 5 | Oregon | 11-1 |
| 6 | Ole Miss | 11-1 |
| 7 | Texas A&M | 11-1 |
| 8 | Oklahoma | 10-2 |
| 9 | Alabama | 10-3 |
| 10 | Miami | 10-2 |
| 11 | Notre Dame | 10-2 |
| 12 | BYU | 11-2 |
| 13 | Texas | 9-3 |
| 14 | Vanderbilt | 10-2 |
| 15 | Utah | 10-2 |
| 16 | Southern California | 9-3 |
| 17 | Arizona | 9-3 |
| 18 | Michigan | 9-3 |
| 19 | Virginia | 10-3 |
| 20 | Tulane | 11-2 |
| 21 | Houston | 9-3 |
| 22 | Georgia Tech | 9-3 |
| 23 | Iowa | 8-4 |
| 24 | James Madison | 12-1 |
| 25 | North Texas | 11-2 |
Indiana University Wrestling gets a Road Win at Little Rock No. 26 Indiana completed a 2-0 dual weekend with its win at No. 22 Little Rock on Sunday. The Hoosiers earned wins in six of the 10 bouts and had four bonus-point victories to claim a 25-16 advantage. The win puts Indiana at 4-1 on the season. Indiana opened with an instant 4-0 lead from Jacob Moran’s 10-2 major decision win over Jeremiah Reno at 125 lbs. After Little Rock picked up a pin at 133 lbs., No. 23 Henry Porter (141) gave Indiana the lead back (8-6) with his 9-1 major decision victory over No. 31 Brennan Van Hoecke. Little Rock picked up two of the next three bouts from 149-165 lbs. to pull ahead 12-11 after No. 6 Matty Bianchi defeated No. 23 Tyler Lillard in a 5-2 decision at 165 lbs. No. 31 Derek Gilcher gave Indiana the lead right back in a 19-4 (5:54) tech fall win over Gunner Holland. Indiana never lost the lead again and the dual was closed out with freshman Matt Kowalski winning in an 8-4 decision over Michael Gasper. Matt Kowalski earned his first career win in his defeat of Gasper. Henry Porter’s win over No. 31 Brennan Van Hoecke marked three-straight wins and his second ranked win in the last three matches. No. 31 Derek Gilcher won his second-straight match by tech fall. Indiana won six of ten bouts with four bonus-point victories. No. 12 Jacob Moran’s win improved his season record to 8-0. Indiana will return home for a dual against Army next weekend on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Wilkinson Hall.
Indiana University Football Ranked Number 1 in the Associated Press Poll Indiana is the No. 1 team in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll for the first time after going through the regular season and Big Ten championship game 13-0, ending Ohio State’s 14-week run atop the rankings. The Hoosiers’ 13-10 win over the Buckeyes in Indianapolis on Saturday night made them the unanimous pick for No. 1 as they looked ahead to top seeding for their second straight appearance in the 12-team College Football Playoff. Georgia, which beat Alabama 28-7 in the SEC title game, moved up one spot to No. 2 for its highest ranking of the season. Ohio State, the defending national champion, slipped two spots to No. 3.
Indiana, which had the most losses in major college football history prior to coach Curt Cignetti’s arrival two years ago, had never been ranked higher than No. 2 before Sunday. That was the position the Hoosiers held for seven straight weeks before they rose to the top. They were 100 ballot points ahead of Georgia. The Bulldogs were just 12 points ahead of Ohio State. Texas Tech, a 27-point winner over BYU in the Big 12 championship game, also has its highest ranking of the season after rising one rung to No. 4. Oregon was No. 5 and followed by Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Miami. Miami moved up two spots and returned to the top 10 for the first time since mid-October. Alabama and BYU each dropped one spot, to Nos. 11 and 12. Among Group of 5 teams, American Conference champion Tulane jumped four spots to No. 17 for its highest ranking in two years. Sun Belt champion James Madison remained No. 19. With the limited schedule of games, all teams that were in the Top 25 last week remained in the poll.
Virgina took the biggest fall after losing in overtime to Duke in the ACC championship game, going from No. 16 to No. 20. The final AP Top 25 will be released Jan. 20, the day after the national championship game.
CONFERENCE CALL- SEC (8 ranked teams): 2, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 25, Big Ten (5): 1, 3, 5, 16, 18, Big 12 (4): 4, 12, 15, 20, ACC (3): 10, 21, 24, American (3): 17, 22, 23, Independent (1): 9 and Sun Belt (1): 19.
Notre Dame left out of the College Playoff and opts out of Bowl Game The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team has decided to not participate in a bowl game after being left out of the College Football Playoff (CFP). “As a team, we’ve decided to withdraw our name from consideration for a bowl game following the 2025 season,” Notre Dame said in a statement attributed to the football team. “We appreciate all the support from our families and fans, and we’re hoping to bring the 12th national title to South Bend in 2026.”
Notre Dame lost its first two games of the season to the 10th-ranked University of Miami and 7th-ranked Texas A&M, which were selected by the CFP committee to compete in the 12-team tournament to determine a national champion. The Fighting Irish went on to win its last 10 games of the season and was consistently ranked higher than Miami in CFP standings over the final weeks of the season. Immediately following Saturday’s conference championship games, which Notre Dame did not participate in due to its status as an independent, ESPN projected the Fighting Irish to play in the CFP as the 9th seed in a first-round matchup against 8th-ranked Oklahoma.
Notre Dame was the first team left out of the playoff bracket, which was released Sunday afternoon. “There is no explanation that could possibly be given to explain the outcome,” Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua said in an interview with Yahoo Sports after the final CFP bracket was revealed. According to Yahoo Sports, Notre Dame will be guaranteed a playoff spot if it is ranked in the top 12 starting next season under a new agreement signed by CFP official’s last spring. In 2024, the third full season under Head Coach Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame finished 11-1 in the regular season. The Irish won three games in the CFP to earn a spot in the CFP National Championship Game, ultimately losing to the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Indianapolis Colts fall to the Jacksonville Jaguars 36-19 The Indianapolis Colts lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 36-19, in Jacksonville. The Colts have lost 11 straight games in Jacksonville. Daniel Jones left the game in the first quarter and was ruled out with an Achilles injury. After the game, Colts head coach Shane Steichen said Jones’ injury “could be season-ending.” Steichen added that he does not have the full details on it. He also said that it’s not looking good.
“It’s obviously a tough situation to be in when your starting quarterback goes down with an Achilles,” Steichen said. “I thought the guys did a good job in the locker room though, rallying around Riley (Leonard) going into the second half. But any time you lose a guy that puts in so much work and so much effort and is always there for his team and has shown up with a fibula injury and goes out there and plays, just so much respect for him.” Riley Leonard replaced Jones after the injury. He was 18-for-29 passing for 145 yards and an interception, as well as a rushing touchdown.
“Daniel’s the toughest guy that I’ve ever been around by far in my life,” Leonard said. “He’s the most competitive person that I’ve ever met. So it’s no surprise that he came back out there to cheer us on. I remember going over to the sidelines and he was just the first one to put the raincoat on me, the first one to ask me what I see on that play and help me out.” The Colts never held the lead in the game. They responded after an early Jaguars touchdown with a touchdown of their own, a one-yard rush by Jonathan Taylor. But from then on, the Jaguars controlled the game. Jonathan Taylor had 21 carries for 74 yards and a touchdown. Alec Pierce was the Colts leading receiver with five catches for 80 yards. Michael Pittman Jr. had nine catches for 79 yards. The Colts (8-5) have lost three straight games and will take on the Seahawks in Seattle on Sunday, December 14. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:25 p.m.
Bloomington North and Bloomington South Cancel Girls Gymnastics Seasons No coach. No season. Neither Bloomington North nor South were able to find qualified coaches and recently announced that their gymnastics programs will take at least a one-year hiatus from IHSAA competition. It leaves Edgewood as the only program in the area, with Owen Valley’s program shuttered a couple years ago. Martinsville also has less than a full team this season. The decision was recently announced, but rumors of the programs taking a hiatus had Edgewood scrambling in late October. The Mustangs, who have a dozen athletes out, don’t have any equipment and practice at either Rising Star or BUGS and competed mostly in meets with North and South.
Fortunately, several schools were willing to add Edgewood to their duals and three-way meets, including Franklin Central, which hosts the sectional and regional. The season opener, which had normally been the county meet with the Bloomington squads, is now Jan. 12 at Seymour. “We had to revamp our entire schedule,” Edgewood coach Hana Dodds said. “All of our ‘home meets’ and senior night, we piggybacked on North and South, so we had to adjust.
“We’ll be traveling a lot more. We’ll go to Franklin Central four or five different times. Losing North and South takes a toll on us and our girls loved competing with them for several years. Our seniors are sad that they won’t have that opportunity again. We hope they bring their programs back.”
North and South both had their coaches step down after last season, with Andrea Smith moving up into administration after a long run with the Cougars. Michelle Stroud stepped down in 2023 after taking over South’s program in 2017 from long-time coach Leisa Jones. Stroud’s daughter Andrea came over from Edgewood for one season before she left. Dodds took over Edgewood’s program when Andrea Stroud switched schools. “Despite extensive efforts to recruit and hire a qualified gymnastics coach, we have not been able to fill the position,” North coach Andy Hodson said. “Without a certified and experienced coach in place, we are unable to safely and effectively run the program this season.”
Which means no Panthers or Cougars will compete as individuals, and Dodds said no Bloomington gymnasts transferred to Edgewood. North and South each had three juniors on last year’s squads who would have been seniors this season. North and South have fielded teams since the sport was introduced to Indiana in 1972-73. High school gymnastics is a small community in the state and Dodds, and her assistant Addison Goerges appreciate how accommodating coaches and athletic directors have been in keeping Edgewood’s season alive despite the extra mileage they’ll pile up. Edgewood has two seniors and 10 more in the other three classes and Dodds has a couple eighth graders who she expects to join next year. The high school version, as opposed to the club version, is an important offering. The team practices from 7-9 p.m. at one of the two area clubs, which allows multi-sport athletes to participate. Her team has track and cross country athletes as well as members of the cheerleading squad, show choir and dance teams and the later practice helps keep them fully involved. “You do club, it’s 20-30 hours a week all year round,” Dodds said. “That’s a big commitment. This gives them an opportunity to be a part of the sport without that full-time commitment.”