Joey Galloway fires back at Booger McFarland, takes shot at Michigan during Indiana, College Football Playoff debate

There’s one team that’s drawing a whole lot of interest in the College Football Playoff discussion because of how much of an outlier it is, both from a rankings standpoint and from a resume standpoint. That team is Indiana.

The Hoosiers checked in at No. 5 in this week’s rankings, coming in behind one-loss Penn State.

ESPN’s hosts breaking down the rankings had a few different takeaways. The first came from Joey Galloway.

“This is the only test for Indiana in this entire season to prove that they belong,” Galloway said, referring to this weekend’s marquee matchup with Ohio State. “They’re in position to go on the road to Ohio State. Now they don’t even have to win the game, but they do have to play a close game to prove they belong where they are.”

Another ESPN analyst took issue with where the committee has Indiana ranked and how things are potentially set up in a sort of no-win situation for the Hoosiers.

“Here’s the question I would say to you: Would you have said the same thing about Michigan?” Booger McFarland said. “Because their schedule and their metrics compare to what Michigan was last year.”

In other words, it’s not the first time a team has had a fairly light resume going into the final weeks. Michigan wasn’t really penalized by it a year ago.

Indiana might be.

Galloway shook off the suggestion in short order.

“They’re not in this show,” Galloway quipped. “We have nothing to say about Michigan right now. Oh, last year. Yeah… bye bye, Michigan.”

But McFarland continued with his point.

“So I think they’re telling Indiana: If you go to Columbus and you don’t play well and it’s not a close game, even if you beat Purdue and you’re 11-1, you are not guaranteed a playoff spot,” McFarland said.

Galloway agreed that the upside for Indiana is limited.

“They can’t go any higher. They have a chance to go on the road and prove what they are,” Galloway said. “Now, honestly, if we believe in what our metrics are saying, if I’m Indiana, I don’t know if our plan works against Ohio State. We saw what happened to Florida State last year with Jordan Travis. What could keep Indiana out of this? Getting their quarterback hurt. Having not played anybody. If you look at 3, 4 and 5, Texas, Penn State and Indiana, they have literally played nobody.

“So a lot of this that we’re looking at is eye test. Because Boog, when you look at the resumes of 3, 4 and 5, it brings back ‘let me not play anybody and be undefeated,’ because 3, 4, 5 have played nobody and that includes Indiana.”

The bottom line is that the margin for error for Indiana is remarkably low. That’s just reality the way the committee has things set up right now.

McFarland once again circled back around to brand bias.

“I go back again, we’re looking at Indiana and we’re not used to seeing the IU,” he said. “Because I go back to last year: Michigan’s resume was very similar. When you look at the strength of schedule and you look at all the metrics, we gave Michigan the benefit of the doubt. Indiana is not getting that based on the strength of record and we’re coming up with all these different reasons why Indiana can’t do it.

“But let’s give them an opportunity to do it on the field.”

Noon on Saturday on FOX.