To open his post game press conference after IU football downed Northwestern 34-3 on Saturday night, head coach Tom Allen discussed a trio of numbers: 52, 28 and 12.
It has been 52 years since IU's last Big Ten Championship. It has been 28 years since IU’s last bowl victory. It has been 12 years since the last time the Hoosiers ended a season with a winning record.
IU crossed one of those numbers off of Allen’s to do list with the Northwestern win. At 7-2, the Hoosiers have clinched their first winning season since Austin Starr’s dramatic game-winning field goal against Purdue gave the Hoosiers a seven-win season in 2007.
IU’s success not only assures finishing above .500, but it also opens up the door for a fourth program changing number that Allen did not discuss at the podium.
It has been 25 years since IU football has been ranked in the Associated Press top 25 poll. With a 7-2 record, there is a real argument for the Hoosiers to be ranked in the AP poll for the first time since 1994 or the College Football Playoff committee top 25 for the first time ever.
Before delivering a 31-point beatdown of Northwestern, IU was No. 23 in Bill Connelly’s S&P+ rankings, which are considered the premier advanced analytic ranking tool in college football.
In S&P+, IU is ranked ahead of eight teams that were in last week’s AP top 25: University of Notre Dame, University of Cincinnati, Appalachian State University, Kansas State University, Boise State University, Southern Methodist University, Wake Forest University and San Diego State University.
IU is also ranked higher than the University of Texas at Austin and the United States Naval Academy, the two teams that received the most votes that did not get ranked in the poll.
IU’s seven wins also exceeds or matches five teams that are currently ranked.
Yes, I understand the Hoosiers have not beaten any phenomenal teams. IU’s best win is on the road at 4-5 Nebraska. While that was an enormous win for the program to win in Lincoln, Nebraska, and to knock off a historic program like the Cornhuskers, it statistically did not move the needle nationally.
However, IU’s wins are comparable to some of the other teams currently ranked in the AP poll. And no, I'm not talking about the group of five teams, San Diego State or SMU.
Notre Dame was No. 16 before its 21-20 win over Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and State University improved it to 5-2 on the season. What is the best win the Irish have on their schedule? Likely a victory over undermanned University of Louisville, who — while improved — was coming off a 2-10 season and playing their first game under new head coach Scott Satterfield.
Iowa is currently ranked 19 with a 6-2 record, with its best victory being a one-point win at Iowa State University. Neither Notre Dame or Iowa have another win against a team with a winning record.
So why are the Irish and Hawkeyes safely in the polls while the Hoosiers are on the outside looking in? IU is viewed as the better team analytically. The Hoosiers have more victories than the Hawkeyes and Irish. All three teams have similar resumes in terms of who each team has beaten.
The difference, as most probably know by now, is that Notre Dame and Iowa are respected brand names in college football. Due to over a century of losing, IU is judged for past performance instead of what the 2019 Hoosiers have accomplished.
As a result. As a result, the Hoosiers may not be ranked in the AP poll or CFP top 25 this week, but they should be.
