Indiana got out of Michigan with a win after a hard-fought victory Saturday, and should move up in the rankings
In this story:
It might not end up in the Louvre, but Indiana painted itself as a 7-1 football team after sneaking out of Michigan with a 13-6 overtime victory.
The victory was hard-fought in every sense of the word and puts the Hoosiers back in the win column after dropping a heartbreaker to Ohio State last week.
Couple it with what happened around the rest of college football on Saturday, and the Hoosiers should soon be headed up in the AP Poll.
No Shame in Struggle vs Michigan
If we've learned anything in college football in recent years its that there really is no such thing as a bad road victory, and that's especially true in the Big Ten.
On a day that saw five home teams win Big Ten games, including Wisconsin upsetting No. 16 USC and Minnesota knocking off No. 15 Iowa, there is no shame in needing extra time to get out of Michigan with a victory.
Oklahoma, which beat a No. 1 Texas team this season, couldn't get out of Ann Arbor with a win back in September.
Like games at Iowa and Penn State last year for Indiana, simply getting out with a win is the important thing, especially with it coming against one of the nastiest defenses in the nation.
Where Indiana Should Rank in Updated AP Poll
Indiana got out with the win and sits at 7-1, as the bye week is still almost a month away.
The Hoosiers entered Saturday ranked sixth nationally, but should be on the way up thanks to a couple of college football happenings.
First, No. 2 BYU lost at UCF, one week after the Cougars beat Notre Dame. Notre Dame fell just two spots to No. 4 this past week, but with that BYU loss looking worse for the Fighting Irish, one would think it will take a step or two down in the rankings, as will BYU.
Now factor in No.5 Georgia, who saw the Auburn team that upset it last week get thrashed at home by LSU, and that loss is only looking worse, too.
If the Associated Press does this right, and I can't say I have a ton of faith it will, then we should be looking at an Indiana team that is ranked third nationally when the updated poll comes out Sunday.
That said, if I had to put money on where Indiana is, I'd guess No. 4 behind Miami, Ohio State, and Georgia.
We're still a few weeks from the College Football Playoff committee releasing its official rankings and that clearly carries infinitely more weight than the AP Poll, but the AP Poll has a history of serving as a pretty strong guide as to how things will look in the CFP.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Published
Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.