Here is the pre-season ranking from Rivals.com.
It's not all that surprising. The Hoosiers are ranked 97th out of 120. The major problem they found is what we already knew: defense. The second major problem is the Big Ten schedule, also which we already knew.
I'm a little concerned about IU's company in the bottom third of the country. The Hoosiers are ranked behind Army (95) and Kent State (96), as well as Akron (88), who is on the IU schedule this year.
The good news is IU plays the worst team in the rankings in Week 2: Western Kentucky. The Hoosiers also are ranked ahead of Arkansas State (100), which is IU's homecoming opponent.
As of July 18, the full list had not been released. Other IU opponents on the list so far are (in schedule order): Michigan (41), Illinois (84), Northwestern (57), and Purdue (62). That means four IU opponents are in the top 32. My guess is Iowa, Ohio State and Penn State will end up in the top 15 and Wisconsin could end up in the top 25.
These pre-season rankings are tough to use in drawing conclusions. But I don't think it's a good sign when 10 of 12 games will be against better teams.
