Tom Allen and the Indiana Hoosiers are on their best run of football since the late 1980s and early 90s, when Anthony Thomas and Vaughn Dunbar were setting records and leaving behind legends at Bloomington’s Memorial Stadium.

AP voters are giving the Hoosiers justice, too, ranking them now for the fifth straight week in the Top 25 poll, the first time for the program since 1993. Despite the loss yesterday to third-ranked Ohio State, the Hoosiers have dropped only three spots to No. 12 nationally, down from ninth heading into the weekend.

Indiana battled four quarters toe-to-toe on the road with a team expected to compete for a national championship and—had it not been for uncharacteristic mistakes in crucial spots—had a legitimate shot at winning outright. The clock ticked out with the Hoosiers near midfield and trailing the Buckeyes by a single score, 35-42, when their desperation lateral play came up short. 

Indiana is 4-1 on the season with wins over Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, and Rutgers, and their only blemish to one of the nation’s best. The Hoosiers have Maryland, Wisconsin, and Purdue to end the season and are likely to be favored in two of the final three with the other game against the Badgers likely to have a tight spread.