3 teams Indiana has proven it should be ranked ahead of in AP Top 25

Another week, another win for still-undefeated Indiana. Backup quarterback? College Gameday in town for the first time ever? Curt Cignetti's crew just keeps on doing it: Indiana got a pick-six on the opening drive of the game and Tayven Jackson was steady enough replacing Kurtis Rourke in a 31-17 win over Washington on Saturday, moving the No. 13 Hoosiers to 8-0 on the year. We've officially left "hey, fun story here" behind; this team is a legitimate Big 10 contender, and if they can knock off an increasingly shaky Ohio State team toward the end of the year, they'll be in the running for a lot more than that.

So why does it feel like this team still isn't garnering a ton of respect or attention nationally? Sure, Cignetti and Co. have yet to nab what could be considered a marquee win over a ranked side. But they also have yet to trail for a single second all year. They're playing the schedule in front of them, and they're doing exactly what you'd hope a playoff contender would do: dominating. So let's change the narrative a little bit: Here are three teams that Indiana should absolutely leapfrog in the next AP Top 25 poll no matter what else happens on Saturday.

3. BYU

The Coogs are also undefeated, checking in two spots ahead of Indiana at No. 11 in this week's poll. But they also came very, very close to losing at home to a 3-3 Oklahoma State side just last Saturday, and that wasn't the first time this team found itself on the fortune side of a close game. The 38-9 blasting of Kansas State is awfully impressive, as is a road win at SMU. But the latter was a real Houdini act, and at this point we need to see a little more down-to-down dominance from Kalani Sitake's side before we have them in the top 10.

2. Iowa State

Speaking of Big 12 teams that are walking a tightrope right now: Iowa State also nearly lost to an unranked team last week, needing some late Rocco Becht magic to escape UCF at home. The Cyclones are hanging their hat on a road win at Iowa, but that looks less impressive now that this Hawkeyes side has fallen back to Earth a bit, and the resume is awfully bare outside of that. Granted, Matt Campbell's teams aren't designed to win with style points, but it's hard to argue that they've played a more difficult schedule — or handled it more impressively — than Indiana so far this season.

1. Ohio State

Hey, why not? Unlike Ohio State, Indiana is still unbeaten, and unlike Ohio State, they had absolutely zero problem taking care of business at home against Nebraska. If you stripped the names of the helmets and the uniforms, which of these teams would you say is better? The Buckeyes' lofty ranking is purely a product of last season's production and preseason expectations; they don't have a win over a ranked team, and they haven't been nearly as convincing on a snap-to-snap basis as the Hoosiers have. Seems pretty clear-cut to me, and if Ohio State wants their status back, they can settle it on the field when these two teams meet in Columbus on Nov. 23.