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CBS, 247Sports Ranks Indiana Among Top-25 FBS Teams Ahead of the 2021 Football Season

CBS Sports and 247Sports ranked all FBS teams ahead of the 2021 college football season, and it including five Big Ten programs in its top-25. Indiana ranked just inside that list, coming in at No. 21 overall and fifth in the Big Ten.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — CBS Sports and 247Sports are providing a comprehensive rankings list of all 130 Football Bowl Subdivision programs ahead of the 2021 season. Through extensive polling of experts, the list will be updated weekly throughout the year.

The two outlets ranked five Big Ten Conference teams in its top-25, including Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State, Iowa and Indiana. The Buckeyes were the top-ranked team from the league, coming in at No. 4 in the nation behind Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma.

Among the teams in the Big Ten, Indiana football ranked at No. 21 in the country, which was good for fifth in the conference.

Here are all of the Big Ten programs and their rankings before the 2021 season:

  • Ohio State Buckeyes, No. 4
  • Wisconsin Badgers, No. 13
  • Penn State Nittany Lions, No. 17
  • Iowa Hawkeyes, No. 18
  • Indiana Hoosiers, No. 21
  • Michigan Wolverines, No. 28
  • Northwestern Wildcats, No. 37
  • Minnesota Golden Gophers, No. 46
  • Nebraska Cornhuskers, No. 51
  • Purdue Boilermakers, No. 58
  • Michigan State Spartans, No. 74
  • Maryland Terrapins, No. 77
  • Rutgers Scarlet Knights, No. 80
  • Illinois Fighting Illini, No. 81

Here's what 247Sports had to say about the reigning Big Ten football champions, the Ohio State Buckeyes:

"Ohio State returns arguably the most talented wide receiver group in the country, will be strong in the trenches on both sides of the football and likes how the running back room is shaping up even with the loss of Trey Sermon thanks to an elite recruiting class.

It will be interesting to see how Ohio State's quarterback competition shakes out during fall camp with the unexpected arrival of five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers, who is skipping his senior year of high school, going up against the likes of Kyle McCord and C.J. Stroud. Which one of those guys steps up and separates himself from the rest? Stroud is the clubhouse leader."

  • INDIANA HAS SI ALL-AMERICAN TOP 25 RECRUITING CLASS: Thanks to some huge gets on the recruiting trail, Indiana's class is ranked No. 22 in the Sports Illustrated All-American national rankings. It's the first time the Hoosiers have ever been in the top-25. CLICK HERE 
  • GI'BRAN PAYNE'S PATH LEADS TO INDIANA: Cincinnati La Salle's Gi'Bran Payne is the best running back in Ohio and a standout four-star recruit. The recent Indiana commit has been raised to reach this success, and he's a state champion thanks to all of his hard work and the many people who have been in his corner for years. CLICK HERE 
  • INJURIES END SIMON STEPANIAK'S NFL CAREER: Simon Stepaniak, the former Indiana guard who was a sixth-round pick of the Green Bay Packers last year, has been placed on the reserve/retired list, and it looks like his NFL career is over before it even got started. CLICK HERE