Indiana Is No. 4 Across the Board: Hoosiers Rise in AP Top 25
Indiana is now No. 4 across the board.
The defending national champion Hoosiers climbed one spot to No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25 released Sunday, matching their No. 4 ranking in the US LBM Coaches Poll. Indiana also received three AP first-place votes, another sign that the Hoosiers are no longer being viewed as a surprise story — they are being treated as one of the teams capable of winning the national championship again.
Texas moved to No. 1 after erasing a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Ohio State 24-23. Georgia remained No. 2 and Notre Dame stayed No. 3, followed by Indiana at No. 4 and Miami at No. 5.
Indiana’s Message Is Bigger Than the Ranking
Moving from No. 5 to No. 4 matters. The first-place votes matter even more.
Texas collected 56 first-place votes, while Miami received four. Georgia and Indiana each received three, with Notre Dame and LSU receiving one apiece. That puts Indiana in a very small group of teams that AP voters believe could reasonably be the best team in the country right now.
That follows the Coaches Poll, where Indiana also landed at No. 4 and received 10 first-place votes. In other words, both major polls agree on Indiana’s place in the national picture, while a meaningful number of voters in each poll believe the Hoosiers belong at No. 1.
Highest-Ranked Team in the Big Ten
Indiana is also the highest-ranked Big Ten team in the new AP poll.
- No. 4 Indiana
- No. 6 Ohio State
- No. 12 USC
- No. 14 Penn State
- No. 18 Iowa
- No. 19 Michigan
- No. 21 Oregon
The conference picture changed dramatically after Saturday. Ohio State dropped five spots following the loss at Texas. Oregon fell 15 places after losing 39-31 at Oklahoma State, while Michigan returned to the rankings at No. 19 after beating Oklahoma.
Complete AP Top 25 — September 13, 2026
- Texas
- Georgia
- Notre Dame
- Indiana
- Miami
- Ohio State
- LSU
- Ole Miss
- Texas A&M
- Alabama
- BYU
- USC
- Texas Tech
- Penn State
- Tennessee
- SMU
- Utah
- Iowa
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Oregon
- Houston
- Louisville
- Oklahoma
- Virginia
Coach Griff’s Take
The most important part of Sunday’s rankings is not simply that Indiana moved up one spot. It is the consistency of the message.
Indiana is No. 4 in the AP Poll. Indiana is No. 4 in the Coaches Poll. Indiana is the highest-ranked team in the Big Ten. And voters in both polls are putting the Hoosiers on top of their ballots.
That is what respect looks like after winning a national championship. The target is different now. Indiana is not chasing credibility — the Hoosiers are defending it every Saturday.
Source: Associated Press Top 25, September 13, 2026.
