Indiana climbs power rankings before Ohio State game
By Ben Beane
The Indiana vs. Ohio State game will take place on Saturday at 3:30pm. Indiana is currently 3-1 (1-0) and Ohio State is undefeated at 4-0 (2-0).
With their upset overtime win against Michigan State, Indiana is gaining popularity among analysts and shooting their way up power rankings. Though this is a staple win for coach Kevin Wilson, it is surprising that they are rated so high just weeks after their disappointing loss to Wake Forest.
In ESPN’s latest Big Ten Power Rankings, Indiana has climbed all the way up to sixth in the conference. Next week’s opponent, Ohio State is sitting comfortably in first (second in the nation), followed by Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Maryland, and then Indiana.
ESPN Power Rankings can be seen here.
In the Big Ten Network’s power rankings, they have Indiana at seven. They have Nebraska in third ahead of Wisconsin, and they have Penn State in front of Indiana and Michigan State. Both ESPN and BTN give praise to the Hoosiers, claiming that they are experiencing a program transformation, and now possess the ability to hang with the best in the conference.
BTN Power Rankings can be seen here.
A lot of the praise Indiana is receiving can be attributed to last season. While their 6-6 regular season record (2-6 in the Big Ten) wasn’t necessarily a success, they gave Ohio State, Michigan, and Iowa scares, all of whom ranked in the top 15 at the time. This was with quarterback Nate Sudfeld battling injury, and without Tom Allen’s rejuvenated defense.
Although they are placed in the much stronger East Division of the conference, which contains powerhouses Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, etc. – they still have a shot to make much better bowl games, even if conference championship hopes are still a ways away. Ohio State and Michigan made the Fiesta and Citrus Bowl, despite being in the same division as conference champs Michigan State.
What the Michigan State game did was prove that they now have what it takes to finish a game off. They have given teams scares in the past, but have been unable to seal the deal. It pains me to even mention the huge lead they gave up in their Homecoming loss to Rutgers last season. Their revamped defense should help with that.
Their loss to Wake Forest was a result from being careless with the football and making very preventable, and fixable, mistakes. The Demon Deacons on numerous occasions had a short field to work with, and the defense wasn’t at fault. RJ Shelton’s 86 yard TD reception in last week’s win was the only big scoring play that the Hoosiers have allowed this season, which is a huge step up. Last year they were constantly gashed by big plays that would completely take them out of games.
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They have a lot on their plate this weekend, however. Ohio State, led by quarterback JT Barrett, have undoubtedly proven to be the top team in the conference. Their 58-0 blowout win against Rutgers last week showed that they are relentless on offense and defense. But with respect to Oklahoma, this Indiana game may be their toughest yet.
Urban Meyer said in his press conference, “I see an outstanding team…this is by far their best team, and that is being very respectful of the other teams we’ve played against.”
Surprisingly though, Ohio State is around 30 point favorites to win the game, so clearly nobody seriously expects Indiana to be a problem for the Buckeyes. But that’s when Indiana plays best, and they have been playing pretty well against OSU of late. It will be interesting to see how they stack up, because hopes are high here in Bloomington.