There’s a prevailing opinion across college football that the Indiana Hoosiers, not the Ohio State Buckeyes, are the No. 1 team in the sport that’s been spread en masse following the results of Week 8. Though not because of Week 8.
Indiana handled business in a 38-13 win over the Michigan State Spartans in Bloomington, while Ohio State blanked the Wisconsin Badgers 34-0 at Camp Randall Stadium. Both had impressive showings, but it was the week before that stamped IU as the undisputed top dog.
As David Pollack said, the Hoosiers’ 30-20 win over the Oregon Ducks from Eugene is still the season’s best win. That puts Indiana over OSU, whose best win is a 34-16 win over the Illinois Fighting Illini, a triumph that doesn’t even touch the Hoosiers’ 63-10 win over Illinois earlier in the year.
“Dude, this was a little bit harder this week because this got a little bit crazy with all the things that happened last week. But remember, this is how the committee does it. It’s week to week. It’s what you did, it’s who you beat, it’s all-encompassing,” Pollack said on the “See Ball, Get Ball” podcast.
“Number one team in the country, Ohio State. Come on now. Ohio State fans have been mad at me for a while. So you’ve been upset that Miami had that spot. So you know what time it is. Like finally Indiana gets that spot. That’s exactly what you were thinking, right? Yeah. Indiana the number one team in the country.
“The Oregon win is the most impressive win by far. The next most impressive win for both teams is Illinois. One beat them by 53, the other beat them by 18. So to me, Indiana’s the number one team in the country.”
Robert Griffin III shared the same opinion on Monday. Griffin gave the edge to IU because of quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
“I believe Indiana's the best team in the country,” Griffin said on Monday's edition of “The Herd.”
"My reason for saying that isn't just solely off how the two teams played against Illinois. I saw an Ohio State team that took advantage of the mistakes Illinois made and they capitalized on them, but I saw an Indiana team that absolutely dominated them from the start of the game to the finish. They gave up two rushing yards in that game.
“It's not a transitive property conversation or argument. It's just more of what I saw with my own eyes, and I think Fernando Mendoza is playing lights out.”
There’s a clear agenda for Indiana right now. It’s unclear if it’s because Cignetti is so well-liked and Ryan Day isn’t, or if there’s more interest in pushing new blood over the defending national champions.
But the Hoosiers are America's darling, and though they are at the top of the AP Top 25 Poll, the Buckeyes are not the talk of college football.