Ohio State-Indiana should have meant everything. The CFP made it almost meaningless

BLOOMINGTON, IN – They rolled in here and blew it all apart. The win streak, Curt Cignetti’s invincible aura, and the pumped and pulsating environment in the greatest regular-season game in Indiana history.

And it doesn’t mean a damn thing for Ohio State. Or Indiana.

So when we start analyzing the how and why of Ohio State’s 19-15 victory, we should go back two weeks ago to a similar, bigger than big game where Georgia beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa for the first time since 2007.

It didn’t mean a thing, either.

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Miami and Notre Dame will play next month, and maybe the most anticipated game of the season will mean nothing.

All six teams will be in the 12-team College Football Playoff in December, because all six have not one, but two built-in gimme putts. A loss isn’t really a loss until it’s a loss in the CFP.

Now double the teams in the CFP, move it to 24 beginning in 2027 and see how important these games become. Watch how quickly a once-in-a-program afternoon becomes there’s always the CFP.

Or worse, it’s all about the CFP.

Two months ago, the Indiana Board of Trustees approved a $50 million renovation of the West side of the stadium for “fundamental structural upgrades.” The plumbing, everyone, needed to be gutted.

Pipes freeze, and quite frankly, the cold December weather rolling into south-central Indiana hasn’t been a concern for more than 100 years of IU football — before Cignetti arrived in 2024 and changed everything.

Now the damn thing has to be winterized with a 24-team College Football Playoff — and home games in December — on the way. Seriously.

So another Heisman Trophy moment for Jeremiah Smith is nice. Ohio State salting it away in the fourth quarter without injured quarterback Julian Sayin was inspiring.

The Buckeyes’ defense getting off the field on a last-chance, fourth-down heave, and forcing the first turnover from Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover was impressive. As was the offense finally figuring out how to score from inside the 5 on Indiana.

Really, they did. On fourth down, no less.

But does it really mean anything? Barring catastrophic problems from one or both, Ohio State and Indiana are CFP locks.

And we’re 10 months away from the Great Giveaway of a 24-team CFP.

Now here’s the dirty truth: We’re already dealing with a CFP giveaway, and we don’t even know it. Hours before kickoff on its pre-game clown show, ESPN — the network that swindled the CFP for essentially $100 million more annually for 12 games — had a smiling face breathlessly tell Cignetti of this glorified midseason NFL game: “Some are calling this the biggest game in Memorial Stadium history!”

Cignetti’s response: “Some.”

It was yet another classic Cig moment, and more than just the reality that he refuses to make anything bigger than it is because it’s all part of the process. But because what exactly is big in college football now?

We’re barely two years into the 12-team format, and already the shine is completely off what made college football perfectly imperfect. From every games matters, to everyone gets a trophy.

Now double those unintended consequences from a 12-team format, and see what happens to other “greatest” games in the history of whatever.

When Texas Tech, BYU, Utah or whoever wins the Big 12, can lose two games and still reach the CFP, we may have a problem. When Alabama reached the CFP last season with three losses, even though one of those losses was by 14 to a truly bad Florida State team, we may have an issue.

Just how utterly ridiculous has this become? Notre Dame whined and wailed so much after missing last year’s party — after losing both of its toughest games of the season, one at home — the university pulled a 180 on the 24-team format and welcomed it with the sweet embrace of Touchdown Jesus.

I mean, if you’re feeding annually on Purdue, Michigan State, Stanford, Navy and five games from the big, bad ACC, you’d need some relief, too.

It's already here, everyone. And it's only going to get worse.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB. Listen to him daily, from 12-2 p.m., on 1010XL-Jacksonville.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ohio State-Indiana should have meant everything. The CFP made it almost meaningless