Nobody paying attention for the past 24 months would be surprised to see Indiana – yes, Indiana – leading the way into this year’s College Football Playoff.

But anyone paying attention over the last 24 hours knew the only sure thing beyond that was that the selection committee was destined to get destroyed when it released the pairings for this season's 12-team bracket Sunday.

Most of that second-guessing and vitriol will be coming from Notre Dame, which was passed over for Alabama and Miami for two bubble spots in the bracket. The Fighting Irish dropped two notches in the CFP rankings over the last two weeks, down to No. 11, despite a 10-game winning streak, winning their finale by 29 points and sitting on the couch Saturday.

No. 9 Alabama didn't move at all in the CFP rankings after a 28-7 loss to No. 3 Georgia that looked worse than that. The committee didn't count that against the Tide in keeping with a hazy policy that refrains from penalizing teams for playing in their league title game.

No. 10 Miami didn't play either, but the Hurricanes' 27-24 win over Notre Dame in Week 1 played a role in their move once the teams were grouped right next to each other after BYU lost its game on Saturday.

Committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said he directed the committee to rewatch the Miami-Notre Dame game again.

“Once we moved Miami ahead of BYU, we had the side-by-side comparison that eveyrone had been hungy for,” Yurachek said.

The committee’s other key decision during deliberations was choosing James Madison over Duke for the final spot. The selection left the Atlantic Coast Conference champion out of the mix, but didn’t fully exclude the ACC because Miami made it.

Yurachek insisted including the ACC — one of the Power Four conferences — in the playoff in some form played no role in the deliberations.

The rest of the field includes No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Texas Tech, which joined Indiana in getting first-round byes. The Hoosiers moved to No. 1 with their 13-10 win over the Buckeyes on Saturday — their first Big Ten title since 1967 — and their 1-2 positioning sets up a possible rematch in the national title game Jan. 19.

Then it was No. 5 Oregon, followed by Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Alabama, Miami, Tulane and James Madison.

The playoffs start Dec. 19 with No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Oklahoma. On Dec. 20, it's No. 10 Miami at No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 11 Tulane at No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 12 James Madison at No. 5 Oregon.

The quarterfinals will feature Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Eve, then Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl, Indiana in the Rose Bowl and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.

Top-ranked Indiana is headed to its first Rose Bowl in 58 years to face Oklahoma or Alabama.

The Big Ten champion Hoosiers (13-0) made a storybook transformation into a college football powerhouse over the past two seasons, and now they'll play in the most fabled venue in the sport on New Year's Day.

Indiana formally received its invitation Sunday to the 112th edition of the Granddaddy of Them All, which doubles as a College Football Playoff quarterfinal. Coach Curt Cignetti's Hoosiers will learn the identity of their blue-blood opponent after the Sooners (10-2) host the Crimson Tide (10-3) on Dec. 19 in a rematch of Oklahoma's 23-21 victory over Alabama on Nov. 15.

The announcement capped a monumental weekend for Indiana, which won its first Big Ten title since 1967 by beating defending national champion Ohio State 13-10 Saturday night.

Indiana is headed to the Rose Bowl for only the second time. The Hoosiers' last Big Ten champions came on Jan. 1, 1968, losing to No. 1 Southern California in Pasadena.

First Round

Dec. 19

No. 9 Alabama (10-3) at No. 8 Oklahoma (10-2), 8 p.m. (ESPN/ABC)

Dec. 20

No. 10 Miami (Fla.) (10-2) at No. 7 Texas A&M (11-1), noon (ESPN/ABC)

No. 11 Tulane (11-2) at No. 6 Mississippi (11-1), 3:30 p.m. (TNT/HBO Max)

No. 12 James Madison (12-1) at No. 5 Oregon (11-1), 7:30 p.m. (TNT/HBO Max)

Quarterfinals

Dec. 31

Cotton Bowl: Miami/Texas A&M winner at No. 2 Ohio St., 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Jan. 1

Orange Bowl: James Madison/Oregon winner at No. 4 Texas Tech, noon (ESPN)

Rose Bowl: Alabama/Oklahoma winner at No. 1 Indiana, 4 p.m. (ESPN)

Sugar Bowl: Tulane/Mississippi winner at No. 3 Georgia, 8 p.m. (ESPN)

Semifinals

Jan. 8, at Fiesta Bowl

TBD, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Jan. 9, at Peach Bowl

TBD, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Championship

Jan. 19, at Miami Gardens, Fla.

Semifinal winners, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)