Indiana football is doing all the right things to move up their season stacks amidst a chaotic competition. But they are still not the AP Poll’s favorite. Indiana just did a phenomenal job winning 10 football games in a row during Curt Cignetti’s first year in Bloomington. Curt Cignatti, leading his team to such a historic fit, deserves all the praise and recognition. But when it comes to the season, their soaring (20-15) victory over Michigan made some differences in the ranking poll and the question lingers: was it enough?

Joel Klatt has already accused brand bias for the Hoosier’s lower ranking in the weekly AP Poll. He called the Associated Press rankings trash. Like the NASCAR race, the veteran analyst sees the system as a rotten deal. Last week, he voiced that Indiana should be on No. 5th or higher instead of Miami. This week, the Hoosiers are officially No. 5 on the chart as CBS Sports broke down, ‘‘Indiana Getting the respect they deserve. The Hoosiers improved to ten zero on the season and moved up to five after defeating one of the more talented opponents on their schedule in Michigan,”

The ‘respect’ seems to be a poor consolation if we look at how Oregon, with the same 10-0 record, sits atop the poll. It’s not just Clatt had his say against the Hoosiers’ ranking fate as a whole. Rather, a slew of fans and veterans sang the same. Tom Fornelli vented out his frustrations in his Cover Three podcast.

The media mogul directly asked for a swap with the highly hyped-up Michigan and let the game turn around. ‘Take Indiana’s exact resume, take off the Indiana logo, put on the Michigan logo, is Indiana 8th?” The question remains unanswered despite a slight rise in the AP Poll this week.

But why do the veterans draw a logical comparison between the Wolverines and the Hoosiers? Because they had the close strength of schedule, records, last year. However, despite all the snub controversy. Cignetti remains unfazed, and here’s why.

Curt Cignetti couldn’t care less about the AP Poll ranking

Curt Cignetti is making history with the Indiana team. His unmatched grit and sharp development within just a year often earned him the comparison with Frank Cignetti, former Indiana coach. The secret behind the quick success recipe is quite well-documented. The constant urge to scrutinize the players to chisel out the best help in competitive team building is all behind Cignetti’s philosophy. But the one most crucial thing we missed was how chilled the veteran coach was about all the petty things going around him and his team.

Distractions always hinder progress, something we all know, but no one really lives up to. Especially when it comes to the college football world, you find controversy at every turn. We have also seen coaches addressing other insignificant things on their media calls and somehow drifting away from their main mission. But when Curt Cignetti stands out with a historic 10-0 record for a reason.

The coach doesn’t really care where the AP Polls or other ranking bodies put them on the list. Cignetti believes the only thing under their control is how the team performs on the field and keeps on winning one game after another. He is too wise to shift his focus on anything other than the bullseye.

It will be interesting to see if Indiana can pull an upset on their upcoming opponents and climb more to the weekly AP Poll, nullifying the brand bias narrative.