Indiana football stumbled, but did not fall. What will that mean for its national profile?

Following Indiana’s dominant win over a then-top ten Illinois team, all of the usual suspects emerged to say that Indiana had yet to beat anybody impressive. It wasn’t surprising, but it was disappointing to see the complete lack of integrity from those in media circles who will seemingly settle for no fewer than 11 SEC teams in the Playoff.

Oh, and coincidentally, a lot of those guys work for the network that only has a contract with the SEC – not the Big Ten. That they are threatened by the possibility of another Big Ten power emerging and potentially shifting the power balance of the sport is no surprise.

I’m ashamed to admit that a lot of these bozos were on my mind in the waning moments of Indiana’s game in Iowa City. Most ranked teams are allowed to lose games, especially on the road, but those rules likely don’t apply to an Indiana team that people have been making up excuses for people to disparage for two years now.

With just over two minutes to play, Iowa lined up for a field goal that likely would have given the Hawkeyes a win and provided endless fodder for those who do not want to believe in the new reality that Curt Cignetti has ushered in.

Whether it was a stroke of luck for Indiana or a hot kicker finally cooling off, the kick was Bad, and the Hoosiers took over for the game-winning touchdown just a few plays later. Indiana avoided the loss, but Iowa kept it close enough to possibly fuel another couple weeks of bad faith discourse about what Curt Cignetti has done so far in Bloomington.

Moving up three spots in the latest AP Poll is a good sign, if not that more people are beginning to respect Indiana, at least out of recognition that winning at Kinnick is hard, even when Iowa isn’t ranked.

Illinois came in with the higher ranking, but didn’t truly punch Indiana in the face at any point like the Hawkeyes were able to. Outside of one defensive breakdown, the Illini could not move the ball. And they certainly couldn’t stop Indiana. This is why they were promptly labeled “frauds” for losing so badly.

Helping Indiana’s case last week is no doubt the fact that Illinois held on to win against a (then) ranked USC team, proving that they aren’t necessarily frauds, but that Indiana was just that much better. Also significant is that Iowa’s only two losses have come in one score games to ranked teams.

Then there’s the fact that Indiana wasn’t the only team to stumble a bit this week. Ohio State was not all that impressive at Washington, and four teams that are still ranked this week lost yesterday. Indiana is one of just 13 undefeated teams in the AP Top 25 right now.

No matter how you slice it, the Hoosier haters are running out of ammo, quickly. The win at Iowa didn’t rack up a ton of style points, but it was against a team that could easily be bowling this postseason, if not in the rankings themselves at some point.

Indiana is never going to get the generous, deferential treatment that programs like Ohio State are granted following underwhelming wins, but it’s getting harder and harder to deny what Cignetti has going in Bloomington.