Is Indiana for real? Plenty of doubt still exists

What Indiana has accomplished this season has been the story of the year, a feel-good turnaround of a Big Ten punching bag, a moribund program that was chalked up every season as an easy win for conference teams.

Instead, the Hoosiers have punched back – and knocked out every opponent.

Not only is Indiana 10-0 for the first time in program history, it’s the first time the Hoosiers have won double-digit games dating back to the program’s inception in 1899. There are still two regular season games left against Ohio State and Purdue, and the Boilermakers are so bad that’s another virtual guaranteed win.

First-year coach Curt Cignetti deserves all the credit in the world. The players deserve unbounded praise. What they’ve done in Bloomington has been surprising and incredible.

But one wonders if all the Indiana exuberance is a little overblown?

Outkick.com founder Clay Travis posed an interesting question on social media Tuesday when he asked: “Honest question, does anyone actually think Indiana, BYU, Miami or Notre Dame would beat Alabama, Ole Miss or Georgia on a neutral field? I don’t. These playoff rankings are a joke.”

The rankings might not be a farce but the Hoosiers at No. 5 overall behind only Oregon, Ohio State, Texas and Penn State (another team that might be slightly inflated), does make some scratch their head.

Sure, Indiana is undefeated and the Hoosiers deserve all that credit. But it also played only one team with a winning record this season and that’s Nebraska at 5-4. The Huskers have lost three straight, demoted their offensive coordinator and brought in Dana Holgorsen to call plays.

Indiana’s wins – while almost all blowouts – are not against the best of the best.

FIU, Western Illinois, UCLA, Charlotte, Maryland, Northwestern, Nebraska, Washington, Michigan State and a Michigan team that cannot throw the ball downfield have been beaten so far this season. Indiana beat the Wolverines by only five points.

The combined record of Indiana’s opponents this season is 40-53.

Are we to believe if Indiana lined up against one-loss Tennessee, Notre Dame or Miami that the Hoosiers would win? Are we to believe that if Indiana lined up against two-loss Alabama, Ole Miss or Georgia that the Hoosiers would win?

Quarterback Kurtis Rourke is a transfer from Ohio. Leading rusher Justice Ellison came to the Hoosiers from Wake Forest. Leading receiver Elijah Sarratt was one of many players that followed Cignetti to Indiana from James Madison. Leading tackler Aiden Fisher is a JMU transplant as well. So is Mikail Kamara, who leads the Hoosiers with 9.5 sacks.

No one is questioning Indiana’s right to be in the top 12 of the playoff rankings. Everyone appreciates what the Hoosiers have done on a historical basis this season.

Last season, Indiana scored 266 points. This year already, the Hoosiers lead the Big Ten with 439 but they haven’t played Ohio State yet and missed Oregon, Penn State, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin on the schedule.

The progression in one year has been phenomenal. In 2023, Indiana went 3-9 and lost by 20 to Ohio State, needed four overtimes to beat Akron, lost by 27 to Maryland, lost by 45 to Michigan, lost by 17 to Rutgers and fell to rival Purdue.

Indiana looks like a totally changed program this season. But the Hoosiers are still 9.5-point underdogs to Ohio State next weekend and that sounds about right.

Even with a blowout loss to Ohio State, Indiana should still be comfortably in the playoff.

But there are a lot of elite one-loss teams and numerous two-loss SEC teams that are licking their chops to prove they belong as well and Indiana has to go through them to win any hardware.

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