Rhule says Indiana is Top 10-caliber, and he has a point

This is not last year’s 3-9 squad. This is not 2022’s 4-8 team. This is not 2021’s 2-10 edition.

No. This is Curt Cignetti’s Indiana Hoosiers. Things are different now.

“I win. Google me,” is Cignetti’s famed retort. And through, yes, a Google search, he does win. At an impressively hard-to-believe clip.

His all-time head coaching record is 125-35, with eight of those losses coming in the postseason. That’s an absurd win percentage of 78%. That’s a shoo-in for College Football Hall of Fame status for the 63-year-old former West Virginia quarterback.

He’s brought that to Indiana. And then some.

At Big Ten Football Media Days, the Hoosiers were considered to be one of the league’s worst. At the time and on paper, it made sense.

Indiana had experienced some rough seasons under Tom Allen. And Kevin Wilson. And Bill Lynch. And Gerry DiNardo. And Cam Cameron. And even Bill Mallory. And Lee Corso. And… you get the picture. Indiana is not what you think of when you think of sustained blue-blood football success. In fact, it’s the opposite… considering Indiana is the program with the most losses in FBS history and the Big Ten’s worst winning percentage.

Nonetheless, Cignetti’s IU squad was the first FBS team to clinch bowl eligibility this season by racing out to a 6-0 start and climbing to No. 16 in the Associated Press Top 25 — the highest they’ve been since the flash in the pan of the Michael Penix 2020 season.

There’s been a lot of spotlight on Indiana this week. Fox’s “Big Noon Saturday” is coming to town. Cignetti went on Pat McAfee’s show. There’s a big write-up of Cignetti on The Athletic that went live Thursday.

A 6-0 record. The only team nationally that hasn’t trailed for a single second this season. The No. 4 offense in the nation with weapons like Kurtis Rourke, Justice Ellison, Ty Son Lawton, Elijah Sarratt, Omar Cooper Jr, the list goes on. The nation’s No. 6 defense bolstered by talented folks like Mikail Kamara and Aiden Fisher and Amare Ferrell and James Carpenter, among others.

“This is probably a Top 10 football team we’re facing, right?” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said Monday. “… Coach Cignetti’s done an amazing job. Quarterback’s absolutely fantastic. They’ve got playmakers. They’re good on special teams. It’s a great team.”

The big question surrounding Indiana’s skyrocket is… how?

Well, Cignetti knows what he’s doing. And the transfer portal.

Ellison: Wake Forest transfer

Lawson: James Madison transfer

Sarratt: James Madison transfer

Kamara: James Madison transfer

Fisher: James Madison transfer

Carpenter: James Madison transfer

In total, Indiana had 30 incoming transfers in the offseason — plenty of whom start or heavily contribute for IU, including the above.

“Everyone has to forget the logos and the names,” Rhule said. “And, ‘This team’s always been good.’ Vanderbilt backs up a win against Alabama with a win over Kentucky, who has probably the best defense in the SEC.”

There’s only one winless team in the FBS ranks right now — Kent State. Fifteen of the 133 FBS teams only have one win, including Purdue, a team that nearly knocked off Illinois in overtime last week.

How many massive upsets have there already been this season?

Vanderbilt over Alabama. Arkansas over Tennessee. Washington over Michigan. Minnesota over USC. Kentucky over Mississippi. Northern Illinois over Notre Dame.

That list is only going to continue to grow.

Maybe that continues in Bloomington, Indiana, this weekend.

Nebraska, as of Thursday afternoon, is a 6 ½-point underdog in most of the sportsbooks. And that line has been trending wider since it opened at 3½ in favor of the Hoosiers.

But, there’s reason to think that Nebraska could walk away with a victory.

Indiana’s schedule hasn’t been the toughest — sitting at No. 113 in the strength of schedule rankings after defeating Florida International, FCS Western Illinois, UCLA, Charlotte, Maryland and Northwestern. Between those five FBS opponents, they’ve all combined for a 12-19 record to start the season.

The Blackshirts — No. 7 in scoring defense and 13 in total defense — will be the best defense Indiana has faced this season, and that’s not even close. Northwestern, which sits at No. 61 in total defense, is the best benchmark. Followed by UCLA at No. 68, Maryland at No. 71, Florida International at No. 103 and Charlotte at No. 118.

Nebraska’s offense will be one of the Hoosiers’ toughest tests to date, too. Nebraska’s total offense, which is No. 77 nationally, edges out No. 102 Charlotte, No. 114 Florida International, No. 120 Northwestern, and No. 130 UCLA, but comes behind No. 43 Maryland.

Either way, a win won’t come easy for Nebraska. And a win won’t come easy for Indiana either.

But this game — a sellout, no less — sure got a heck of a lot more interesting than we all originally thought it would be.