Bloomington By God Indiana was the center of the college football universe Saturday.

College GameDay was there. Former IU coach Lee Corso received a hero’s return. And the Hoosiers rolled in front of a national TV audience and rare sell-out crowd filled with … Indiana fans.

None of this make sense to a college football purist or an SEC fan, and none of that happens in the 4-team Playoff era. Heck, they would have laughed you out of Santa Claus, Indiana, if you even mentioned it as a wish.

But dreams are coming true in 2024. Just ask Texas A&M.

Don’t ask LSU, Kentucky and Mizzou. Misery loves you guys.

Those are among the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 9 in and around the SEC.

10. Forget Indiana, how about Mike Elko’s 1-year turnaround …

Indiana’s Curt Cignetti will win national coach of the year, but let’s not sleep on what Mike Elko is doing in College Station.

Like Cignetti, Elko also in Year 1. Like Cignetti, he’s about to exceed first-year expectations, too.

Here’s the key difference, though: Elko had a much higher bar to clear, in a much tougher landscape, too.

The Aggies are the lone unbeaten team in SEC play and have the inside track to get to Atlanta. They enter November as the hottest team in the SEC, if not the country.

Nobody saw that coming. They’ve overcome injuries, portaled in playmakers, and Elko has expertly managed a developing quarterback situation. Everybody is buying in and a Saturday night in Kyle Field quickly is becoming the most intimidating road hazard in college football.

How good are the Aggies feeling right now?

Nobody even mentions the former coach’s name or how much they paid to get rid of him.

9. Texas, you have a perception problem …

First, congratulations for staving off Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt in your first SEC road game. Alabama couldn’t do that, so … props.

But, frankly, we were expecting a better response after getting drilled at home last week against Georgia.

You know, kind of how Georgia responded against you, after its loss to Alabama.

Why does it matter, you ask? Have you seen your schedule? It’s about to get picked apart. You have 3 wins over ranked teams — which sounds great — but none of those 3 teams will be ranked on Sunday. Michigan and Oklahoma already disappeared from the polls, ne’er to return in 2024, and Vandy’s 1-week stay at No. 25 might end, too. (Vandy should stay in the Top 25, by the way, but … voters.)

Florida, Arkansas and Kentucky certainly won’t be ranked at kickoff.

That leaves 1 more chance to make an impression: at hated rival Texas A&M in a long-awaited, world-ender on Thanksgiving weekend.

If the game were next week, #GigEm. Fortunately for the Longhorns, they still have time to get back to being the team everybody thought they were.

This isn’t about simply making the Playoff. Even if they lose at A&M and finish 10-2, Texas will have an at-large case — just not a no-doubt one, and certainly not a strong one to host a quarterfinal.

Bottom line: Wins are great, but margins matter.

It’s time to pick it up, Longhorns.

8. It can’t get worse than this, right Mizzou?

We get it: Brady Cook wasn’t healthy and eventually was knocked out of the game. (Playing a backup QB didn’t bother Indiana or Texas A&M, but I digress …)

But given the state of Alabama’s defense, Saturday’s show-me-nothing performance had to qualify as rock bottom for Eli Drinkwitz’s offense.

Check out the Tigers’ drive chart:

None of that is any good, and I’m not sure which of the following is worse: Suffering the first shutout of the Drinkwitz era, or Luther Burden somehow catching 3 passes for 3 yards.

7. It was a good run, Mark Stoops

This is what “over” looks like.

An uninspiring home loss to one of the SEC’s worst teams.

But Saturday’s abysmal 24-10 loss to Auburn was more than that.

Kentucky has lost 4 consecutive SEC home games. Oddly, the only 1 they had a chance to win was a strange 13-12 loss to Georgia in Week 3.

For all of the good Stoops has done — heck, he beat Ole Miss a few weeks ago, and he raised the ceiling high enough that people actually care about losses instead of merely yawning — he’s about to finish with a losing SEC record for the 5th time in the past 6 years.

It’s fine to wonder whether anybody else could do better … but all you have to do is look north across the border at their hated basketball rival to know the answer is: At this point, yes.

6. Can we stop pretending Sam Pittman is on a hot seat, please?

This is a shocking concept, but not every team can go 12-0.

Heck, there are some Power conference programs that still have not won 10 games in any season.

Arkansas hasn’t won 10 games since 2011, and probably won’t this year, either. But I’d argue the Hogs are playing as well as they have at any point since that season.

They always were going to play — and keep playing — for Sam Pittman. That has never been in question, even as questions about his future grew louder. And Taylen Green won’t always look as good as he did Saturday (314 yards, 5 passing TDs) because the defense won’t always be as atrocious as Mississippi State’s.

But at their best? The Hogs are fully capable of officially ending Ole Miss’ Playoff hopes next week — and maybe Texas’, too, in Week 12.

5. Ranking the 5 easiest schedules among Playoff contenders

We’re getting close. The first Playoff ranking show is Tuesday, Nov. 5 — as if we needed something else to argue about that day.

Strength of schedule will be more important than ever because there are more teams than ever competing for spots.

These 5 teams have the easiest remaining path to 11-1 (or better).

No. 13 Indiana: As great as Indiana’s overnight success story has been — 2nd 8-0 start in program history — let’s also be real: The Hoosiers have feasted on the softest schedule among Power conference teams, and the finishing stretch won’t change the narrative. Michigan obviously is a brand name, but Ohio State is the only ranked team IU will face all season. And the Buckeyes hardly looked like world-beaters Saturday against Nebraska. Would an 11-1 IU team with no quality wins deserve an at-large bid? I don’t think so — unless they keep it within double-digits at Ohio State.

No. 6 Miami: The U hasn’t faced a ranked team — and won’t until the ACC title game. The Canes close with Duke, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Syracuse.

No. 11 BYU: The 8-0 Cougars hammered a ranked Kansas State team in Week 4, but that’s the only ranked team they’ll face in the regular season.

No. 10 Iowa State: The Cyclones haven’t faced a ranked team and might not, either, if No. 16 Kansas State slips up somewhere before they meet in the regular-season finale.

No. 3 Penn State: This is the most overrated team in the country. After Ohio State next week, it doesn’t get much easier than facing 4 teams in the bottom half of the B1G: Washington, Purdue, Minnesota and Maryland.

4. It’s time to talk about Brian Kelly and LSU …

Few, if any, recent SEC hires have enjoyed a longer honeymoon than Brian Kelly.

It’s time to ask: Is it over?

It should be. Despite his Playoff history and stated goals of bringing another banner to Baton Rouge, LSU isn’t appreciably better this year than the Tigers were last year, or the year before.

Saturday’s 15-point loss at Texas A&M was merely the latest missed opportunity.

Nobody is suggesting Kelly needs to be added to a hot-seat watch list, but instead of continuing to include the Tigers in every Playoff conversation … just because … from here on out, let’s treat Kelly and LSU like everybody else and make them earn it.

The truth is: This isn’t a Playoff team any more so than Ole Miss is.

3. The SEC’s 3 Playoff teams will be …

1. Georgia, 2. Texas A&M, 3. Tennessee

Texas A&M has never looked more legit, but the Aggies don’t exactly have a rich history of closing.

A&M’s Playoff path is simple and well-defined: They are a Playoff lock if they take down Texas to finish 11-1/8-0 in the league and secure a spot in the SEC Championship.

Everything will sort itself out, and it’s still more likely than not that a 4th SEC team makes the field, too. Texas obviously has the opportunity to right itself and earn a bid.

Just know this, SEC fans: Notre Dame is grabbing 1 of the 7 at-large spots, meaning the SEC would have to take 3 of the remaining 6. That’s a tough sell right now.

2. I know we’re overreacting to all things IU, but let’s not get crazy …

1. Absolutely perfect …

What a moment for Lee Corso and Indiana football.

For the past 2 years, the noise has grown louder that Corso should step down from his duties at GameDay. At times, it has been painful to watch. Saturday was a celebration.

I’m not saying that is what Saturday was, but it’s impossible to think of a better way for Corso to say good-bye.