Matt Rhule thinks Indiana is a Top 10 team in the country

The Nebraska coach on Monday praised the Hoosiers for how dominantly they handled their season’s first half. He listed a variety of top-of-the-resume items including IU as having yet to trail in a game, its top-10 national ranking in both total defense and total offense and how it has won the first quarter by a combined 73-0 total.

“This is probably a Top 10 football team we’re facing,” Rhule said.

Such lofty superlatives aren’t historically uncommon for the Hoosiers in men’s basketball. Football — led by first-year coach Curt Cignetti — is in a much less familiar spot as it holds a No. 16 ranking in the Associated Press poll and welcomes in Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff show this weekend.

Indiana rebuilt its roster in no small part through the transfer portal including many players who followed Cignetti from James Madison coming off an 11-2 campaign. The team ranks among the best in the Big Ten in a variety of categories on offense, defense and special teams. Casual fans might not know, for instance, IU is averaging 3.5 tackles for loss (third in the league) and has yet to miss a field goal.

Forget about the logos and program history, Rhule said. They won’t matter on Saturday, with oddsmakers pegging the Hoosiers as five- or six-point favorites.

“I’m pretty sure we’re probably the underdog, right?” Rhule said. “So this is our guys’ first time for doing that. I much prefer that. I love turning on ‘GameDay’ and seeing them all pick the other team. That’s good for us.”