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By Matthew Schmidt
Contributing Sports Writer
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The Indiana Hoosiers are Big Ten champions for the first time since 1967, so they are certainly riding high over their conference championship win over the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Indiana is the No. 1 team in the country and is the top-ranked team in the College Football Playoff, securing a first-round bye. A showdown with the winner of the Alabama-Oklahoma matchup looms.
Read more: Texas Coach Steve Sarkisian Shares Blunt Opinion on SEC Championship Game
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Do the Hoosiers have enough to best one of those two SEC teams?
Ralph Russo of The Athletic doesn't seem to think so, particularly if they end up facing the Crimson Tide.
"On the other side, it’s a lot harder to back Kalen DeBoer’s Tide than it was Nick Saban’s, but I’ll take Alabama to avenge its loss to Oklahoma in Norman and then beat Indiana in the Rose Bowl in a scenario that will make SEC supporters truly insufferable," Russo wrote.
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Indiana has gone 13-0 this season, although it should be noted that Curt Cignetti's squad does not boast nearly the same resume as Alabama.
Yes, the Hoosiers defeated Ohio State and Oregon, but their only other win over a ranked opponent came against Illinois on Sept. 20, and the Fighting Illini ended up going 8-4 and finishing the season unranked.
The Crimson Tide, on the other hand, own victories over Georgia, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee. They also defeated Missouri back when the Tigers were ranked 14th in the country.
Few would disagree that Alabama played in the tougher conference this year, so it stands to reason that some believe the Crimson Tide — the No. 9 seed — could upset Indiana in the second round of the CFP.
Read more: Ryan Day, Ohio State Buckeyes Land Disappointing Ranking Before CFP
That being said, Alabama no longer has Saban, as Russo noted, so the pedigree is not quite the same as it once was. Still, the Crimson Tide might be a little underrated by some people at the moment, and while the Hoosiers definitely scored a signature win over the Buckeyes, the SEC is a different animal.
We'll see if Indiana can continue to prove its doubters wrong this winter.
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