Indiana cracks the Top 25 of the college football preseason rankings for the first time since 1969. The Hoosiers come in at No. 17 of Associated Press poll released Monday.
IU's program continues to rise under the leadership of head coach Tom Allen, who in his fifth full season, has a good chance at competing for a Big Ten championship.
"Our program is perceived a certain way right now and we just have to continue to fight every day to keep getting better because we have a lot of work to do," Allen said. "We’ll be using that as ammunition with our team."
READ MORE: Tom Allen At IU Football's Media Day: 'Goal Is To Play In The Big Ten Championship'
Allen said the rankings have no effect on the team’s performance or the outcome of any games. He said the only thing that matters is preparing the players for the season opener against the No. 18 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes.
"They [Iowa] don’t beat themselves. That’s what sticks out to me," Allen said. "They execute and try not to make any mistakes, and if you make a mistake, they make you pay."
Fall camp started Aug. 5 and almost two weeks into practice, Allen said the most important thing is figuring out the depth chart.
"To me it’s about establishing a good identity of what we can hang our hat on schematically, and who we can hang our hat on," Allen said.
First on the quarterback depth chart will be Michael Penix, Jr. The Hoosiers expect their left-handed gunslinger to be fully recovered from tearing his ACL last season.
"I feel like we're in a good spot right now and guys are going out there and making big plays for us," Penix said.
Penix said he physically feels fit after taking snaps at full speed for the first time since he went down with the injury on Nov. 28.
The season kicks off in 19 days on Sept. 4 in Iowa City.
