The Indiana football team may not be lacing up their spikes this year, but they still found a way to be disrespected by the AP voters.
The AP released their preseason college football poll this year and one that will look a lot different in about a month and it has nothing to do with wins and losses. The poll included teams from both the Big Ten and PAC-12 which has postponed their season and will not play in the fall.
The next poll will have those teams excluded and will look like no other poll has ever looked. But even with what the next poll will look like, there will still a lot to take away from this first ranking.
The most glaring is the fact that Ohio State got 21 first-place votes even though they will not play this year. A lot of voters still considered them the top team in the country, but we will never get to see it.
The thing that stuck out most for Hoosier fans is that they gave about as much respect to the Indiana football team as the coaches did. Indiana did receive more votes, 19 compared to one for the coaches, but was still nowhere near being in the top 25.
Indiana was still stuck behind Kentucky, Louisville, Miami, and Appalachian State among others. Not only that but Tennessee was ranked 25th in the country. We aren’t trying to say that the Hoosiers should have been in front of the Volunteers because they beat the Hoosiers, but it was a close game and again Indiana brings back a lot of talent. You are telling us that they are that far behind a team they were even with in the bowl game?
The other teams just don’t make a lot of sense either. Appalachian State had a very good year last year, but again better than IU? Kentucky seems to be on their way up but the Hoosiers would be a favorite against them also. Miami was a complete mess last year and the only reason we can see that they got more votes is because of their legacy, which isn’t much in recent years.
This was the year the Hoosiers were supposed to prove them wrong and show that they were a top 25 team, but unfortunately, we aren’t going to get to see that in 2020.
The poll is all a moot point because of the conferences postponing their season, but it still would have been nice to see the Hoosiers with a little bit more respect from the voters.