BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Indiana Hoosiers continued their perfect start to the season this weekend and are now knocking on the door of the Top 25.
The Hoosiers routed Charlotte 52-14 Saturday, improving to 4-0 for just the third time since 1991. On Monday, voters slotted IU 27th in the new Associated Press college football poll, six points behind No. 25 Boise State and four points behind Washington State, the leaders of the "Others Receiving Votes" category.
Indiana is looking to crack the Top 25 for the first time since they were ranked 17th in the preseason AP poll in 2021, but dropped out of the poll for good after a Week 1 loss at Iowa. It would be the Hoosiers' first in-season ranking since they finished 12th in the final poll of the 2020 season, which saw the team ranked as high as No. 7.
RELATED: Kurtis Rourke, Ty Son Lawton combine for 4 TDs to help unbeaten Indiana rout Charlotte 52-14
The Hoosiers are averaging 50.5 points per game this season, which includes a 42-13 thrashing of UCLA at the Rose Bowl in the Bruins' inaugural Big Ten contest. The IU defense is allowing fewer than 10 points per game through the first four games.
The four wins under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti have already surpassed last season's win total and have the Hoosiers within two wins of becoming bowl eligible for the first time since the 2020 season.
The Hoosiers host Maryland Saturday at noon in the first home Big Ten contest of the season for Indiana. A win over the Terrapins would give IU a 5-0 start for the first time since 1967, when the Hoosiers made their lone appearance in the Rose Bowl. That team won its first eight games before falling to Minnesota.
The only other time an IU football team started 5-0 was in 1910.
