Curt Cignetti said Indiana football must earn CFP bye Saturday: 'Don't expect any handouts'

BLOOMINGTON – Curt Cignetti pushed back firmly Sunday on the suggestion his team should be guaranteed a bye to the College Football Playoff quarterfinal, win or lose this weekend in the Big Ten championship game.

Cignetti's No. 2 Indiana faces No. 1 Ohio State — the conference's first 1-2 matchup in 19 years — Saturday inside Lucas Oil Stadium, in the Hoosiers' first appearance in the league's showpiece championship game. The Buckeyes and Hoosiers enter their long-anticipated matchup as college football's lone unbeaten teams, and it's widely believed only a substantial defeat could knock one or the other out of the College Football Playoff selection committee's top four when the field is announced next Sunday.

But Cignetti suggested, when asked whether he believed both teams deserved first-round Playoff byes regardless of result Saturday, what happens on the field in Indianapolis should still be taken into account.

"The way you play should mean something," Cignetti said.

The Hoosiers and Buckeyes are effective locks for the 12-team field. The winner of Saturday's game will claim the Big Ten's tied-in place in the Rose Bowl, one of this year's four quarterfinal locations.

Should both teams get that bye, the Big Ten runner up would in all likelihood land in either the Orange Bowl or the Cotton Bowl, depending upon seeding. Falling out of the top four would likely result in hosting a first-round game on campus.

Ohio State coach Ryan Day took a slightly more aggressive position on the subject, pointing out the committee has consistently suggested it is difficult for conference championship game losses to count against a team's resume. Day endorsed the idea both IU and Ohio State deserve a first-round bye, no matter who wins Saturday.

But Cignetti made his position firm and clear.

"I don't expect any handouts," Cignetti said. "We've earned everything up to this point and we've got to earn it on Saturday."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti on CFP bye