Indiana Ranked No. 17 in Associated Press Preseason Poll; First Appearance Since 1969

It's been a long time since Indiana has been ranked in the Associated Press preseason top-25 poll, but it happened on Monday, when the Hoosiers were ranked No. 17. It's the first time since 1969 that IU was among the elite in college football in the AP poll.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- For the first time since 1969, Indiana is nationally ranked in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll.

The Hoosiers checked in at No. 17 in the preseason poll. In last week's Coaches Poll released, the Hoosiers were ranked No. 17. The last time Indiana was ranked in the preseason poll, the Hoosiers were No. 14 at the start of the 1969 season under John Pont.

"It's a preseason poll, and it doesn't mean anything on how your season is going to go,'' Indiana coach Tom Allen said. "You need to block out the noise, even when it's positive noise. We just need to continue to fight to get better every day.''

Indiana's program has been on the rise under Tom Allen, who is starting his fifth full season with the Hoosiers. Indiana went 6-1 in last year's COVID-shortened season, beating three ranked teams -- Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin -- and losing only to national runner-up Ohio State 42-35.

A year earlier, they went 8-4 in the regular season and had a winning record (5-4) in the Big Ten. Last year, the Hoosiers were ranked for 10 consecutive weeks, something  that's never happened before in school history. The previous record was nine consecutive weeks in 1945. (That poll only ran nine weeks)

Indiana appeared in the poll last year after it opened its season in October with a dramatic overtime win over No. 8 Penn State. They were No. 17 that week, and peaked at No. 7 before finishing at No. 12 after losing the Outback Bowl game to Ole Miss in Tampa, Fla.

Indiana opens its season in 19 days at Iowa City, where they will take on  the No. xx-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes. Four others teams on Indiana's schedule are ranked in the preseason poll, Cincinnati (No. 8), Penn State (No. 19), and Ohio State (No. 4).

Here is the complete AP preseason top 25: 

1. Alabama 
2. Oklahoma
3. Clemson
4. Ohio State 
5. Georgia 
6. Texas A&M 
7. Iowa State 
8. Cincinnati
9. Notre Dame
10. North Carolina 
11. Oregon
12. Wisconsin
13. Florida
14. Miami 
15. USC
16. LSU
17. INDIANA
18. Iowa
19. Penn State
20. Washington
21. Texas 
22. Coastal Carolina
23. Louisiana-Lafayette
24. Utah 
25. Arizona State

ALSO RECEIVING VOTES: Oklahoma State 107, Ole Miss 106, TCU 40, Liberty 36, Auburn 32, North Carolina State 14, Michigan 12, Northwestern 8, Boise State 7, Nevada 7, Brigham Young 6, Ball State 6, Houston 5, Boston College 5, UCF 5, West Virginia 3, UAB 2, Army 2, UCLA 2

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