Army would receive a massive boost with a win over Notre Dame. Army and Boise State would be ranked very close to each other for the G5 autobid spot.
IU is being penalized for their weak schedule, but they are also being rewarded for the multiple 2-TD+ wins over Big Ten teams like Nebraska, UCLA, Maryland, Michigan State, Washington and Northwestern.
Maybe Washington but not the others, especially Maryland and Northwestern.
IU is being considered because they're in the Big 10. If they were in the ACC and was undefeated but still ranked behind two other ACC conference teams, they wouldn't have a chance.
It's just IU's bad luck that the usual good teams on their Big 10 schedule are not very good. Forget about Penn State and Oregon. They didn't have to play Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, or Iowa. All bowl teams.
And it was bad timing that they got out of the Louisville game. They desperately needed that game win or loss. Imagine them losing to the Cards then beating OSU and playing Oregon for the Big 10 title. They would definitely be in the playoff even if they lost to Oregon.
But now, If they lose to OSU, they have no big win to counter it.
