Column: National forecast helps Hoosiers

The Hoosiers are lucky their magic carpet ride has been caught in this nationwide updraft.

In the past week, eight ranked teams, including four in the then-top 10, suffered upset defeats.

The Big Ten, four games into conference play, is in flux with the middle of the conference playing an unpredictable game of Chutes and Ladders.

Under these circumstances, IU controls its own destiny. The time is right for the Hoosiers to play consistent, quality basketball as other quality teams lose games they shouldn’t be losing.

IU Coach Tom Crean’s squad has already reaped the benefits of this national recession (OK, maybe not the best wording) with its highest ranking in the polls since 2008. In the latest Coaches and AP poll, which were released Monday, the Hoosiers were ranked No. 8 and No. 7, respectively.

Just like after the Kentucky game, this doesn’t have to be the high point of the season. A top 10 ranking doesn’t have to be a short-lived phase that fades as conference play drags on.

There are the factors IU can control, and then there are the circumstances that made the Hoosiers a much more appealing team by comparison in March. Circumstances like No. 8 Duke losing at unranked Temple, previously undefeated Missouri being upset at Kansas State or Connecticut — which was ranked No. 8 last week — dropping two consecutive road games to then-unranked Big East opponents.

In the national conversation, the Hoosiers have gone from that awkward girl who participates too much in your physics class to the popular girl that gets all the candy grams on Valentine’s Day.

Of course, to keep its high social standing, IU needs to keep winning. And in a Big Ten where nobody is raising their hand as a clear front-runner, the Hoosiers can’t get caught in the trap of confounding losses.

Purdue, picked ahead of IU in some preseason forecasts, was pounded by 20 at Penn State on Thursday — the same Nittany Lion team who lost consecutive games in December to Lafayette at home and Duquesne on the road. But the loss stands as the Boilers’ only conference defeat, as the team compiled notable victories at Iowa and Minnesota, in addition to defeating Illinois in Mackey Arena.

In perhaps the most confounding case in the Big Ten, Wisconsin, which was ranked as high as No. 9 this season, dropped out of the rankings this week and has begun conference play with an underwhelming 1-3 start.

Minnesota, the Hoosiers’ opponent Thursday, ate up mediocre nonconference opponents en route to a 12-1 start but has dropped all four of its Big Ten games against Illinois, No. 16 Michigan, Iowa and Purdue.

From my view, there’s a logjam at the top of the country’s best conference between Ohio State, Michigan State and IU. Below that is anyone’s guess until a squad shows it can prove dependable.

By beating upcoming middle-of-the-pack opponents such as Minnesota, Wisconsin in the Kohl Center and Iowa, the Hoosiers will solidify their status as not only the Big Ten’s best, but one of the nation’s top teams.