What does Indiana football's perfect regular season mean for its ranking?

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football ended the regular season as the No. 2 in the country in both the US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Poll.

The Hoosiers (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) have maintained their ranking behind No. 1 Ohio State for seven straight weeks. The two teams will meet in Saturday's Big Ten title game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Its the first time the conference's championship game will feature the top two teams in the country.

They are the only teams left in the country with undefeated records.

Indiana finished the regular season with the most wins in program history (12) and most conference wins (nine) after beating Purdue 56-3. Curt Cignetti's 23 victories in his first two seasons as IU's coach are the second most in Big Ten history by a coach in his first two seasons at a school.

He's one win away from tying the mark Urban Meyer set at Ohio State from 2012-13.

Indiana is also at No. 2 in the latest set of College Football Playoff rankings with the top four teams in the rankings getting a first-round bye. If the Hoosiers win the Big Ten title game, they would lock up a No. 1 seed and trip to the Rose Bowl in the quarterfinals.

US LBM 2025 preseason college football poll

The US LBM coaches poll Top 25 with teams' records in parentheses, total points based on 25 for first place through one point for 25th, movement from last week's poll, and first-place votes received.

Rank

School (record)

Points

Change

First-Place Votes

1

Ohio State (12-0)

1,575

-

63

2

Indiana (12-0)

1,510

-

0

3

Georgia (11-1)

1,438

+1

0

4

Oregon (11-1)

1,353

+1

0

5

Ole Miss (11-1)

1,306

+1

0

6

Texas Tech (11-1)

1,266

+1

0

7

Texas A&M (11-1)

1,178

-4

0

8

Oklahoma (10-2)

1,106

-

0

9

Notre Dame (10-2)

1,061

-

0

10

Alabama (10-2)

1,019

-

0

11

BYU (11-1)

942

-

0

12

Vanderbilt (10-2)

855

-

0

13

Miami (10-2)

844

-

0

14

Texas (9-3)

753

+2

0

15

Utah (10-2)

750

-1

0

16

Virginia (10-2)

613

+1

0

17

USC (9-3)

505

+3

0

18

Michigan (9-3)

427

-3

0

19

James Madison (11-1)

356

+2

0

20

North Texas (11-1)

345

+2

0

21

Tulane (10-2)

300

+2

0

22

Arizona (9-3)

223

+9

0

23

Georgia Tech (9-3)

170

-4

0

24

Tennessee (8-4)

135

-6

0

25

Navy (9-2)

107

+2

0

Dropped out: No. 24 Pittsburgh; No. 25 SMU;

Others receiving votes: Iowa 85; Houston 73; Missouri 52; SMU 28; Washington 18; UNLV 17; Pittsburgh 15; South Florida 12; Illinois 9; Louisville 6; Connecticut 6; TCU 5; Penn State 5; Old Dominion 2; New Mexico 2; Arizona State 2; San Diego State 1;

The US LBM Board of Coaches for the 2025 season: Tim Albin, Charlotte; Dave Aranda, Baylor; Tim Beck, Coastal Carolina; David Braun, Northwestern; Jeff Brohm, Louisville; Fran Brown, Syracuse; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Jason Candle, Toledo; Ryan Carty, Delaware; Jamey Chadwell, Liberty; Bob Chesney, James Madison; Curt Cignetti, Indiana; Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan; Spencer Danielson, Boise State; Ryan Day, Ohio State; Kalen DeBoer, Alabama; Manny Diaz, Duke; Dave Doeren, North Carolina State; Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri; Sonny Dykes, TCU; Jason Eck, New Mexico; Mike Elko, Texas A&M; Luke Fickell, Wisconsin; Jedd Fisch, Washington; James Franklin, Penn State; Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame; Hugh Freeze, Auburn; Willie Fritz, Houston; Alex Golesh, South Florida; Thomas Hammock, Northern Illinois; Blake Harrell, East Carolina; Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky; Charles Huff, Southern Mississippi; Brent Key, Georgia Tech; GJ Kinne, Texas State; Zach Kittley, Florida Atlantic; Tre Lamb, Tulsa; Dan Lanning, Oregon; Rhett Lashlee, SMU; Clark Lea, Vanderbilt; Lance Leipold, Kansas; Pete Lembo, Buffalo; Sean Lewis, San Diego State; Mike Locksley, Maryland; Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio); Joey McGuire, Texas Tech; Bronco Mendenhall, Utah State; Jeff Monken, Army; Jim Mora, Connecticut; Eric Morris, North Texas; Billy Napier, Florida; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Brian Newberry, Navy; Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State; Jay Norvell, Colorado State; Gerad Parker, Troy; Brent Pry, Virginia Tech; Matt Rhule, Nebraska; Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia; Jay Sawvel, Wyoming, Willie Simmons, Florida International; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Mark Stoops, Kentucky; Jon Sumrall, Tulane; Lance Taylor, Western Michigan; Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio; Scotty Walden, Texas-El Paso.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What does Indiana football's perfect regular season mean for its ranking?