The Indiana Hoosiers come into Week 10 ranked No. 4 in the first batch of College Football Playoff rankings, but the defending national champions haven't looked like the team that dominated the sport a year ago. 

After beginning the year with two Group of Six teams and an FCS opponent, Indiana has gone 5-1 in Big Ten play with four of those wins being one-score victories -- and three straight requiring fourth-quarter comebacks. The Hoosiers' schedule has been a topic of conversation all year, as Indiana opted against finding a Power Four nonconference opponent this season, but among Big Ten teams, they're getting far more respect than others thanks to their status as the defending champs. 

During his radio show on Wednesday night, heading into Indiana's bye week, Cignetti offered his thoughts on why the SEC dominated the first CFP rankings, highlighting the relationship among the Playoff, the SEC and ESPN. 

"SEC gets a lot of love from ESPN and all their writers that they don't technically pay but march to their drum," Cignetti said. "And that's why you see all these SEC teams up there and some good two-loss teams from the Big Ten not quite as high. But like I said, it's all gonna play out on the field."

Cignetti, who hasn't posted on social media since early September (a sponsored post with State Farm), then took a screenshot of CBS Sports' Brad Crawford's list of the most wins over teams above .500 this season, which has Indiana on top with five, with the caption "facts are stubborn things." 

Indiana has wins over North Texas (6-2), Northwestern (6-2), Nebraska (5-3), Michigan (5-3) and Minnesota (5-3), and it's fascinating that the Hoosiers have managed to play that many solid opponents, but only one ranked opponent -- Ohio State, their lone loss.  

That will change in a week's time when No. 4 Indiana hosts No. 20 USC on Nov. 14 (3:30 p.m. ET on CBS). Both teams will be off a bye week, with USC trying to shift focus after a desperately needed win over Ohio State last Saturday. Cignetti's bunch, meanwhile, can quiet the noise around their schedule and performance this year if they can finally win a game comfortably over a quality opponent. 

In the meantime, Cignetti is going to stump for his conference to get a bit more respect, but there's little doubt that this season has been a down year for the Big Ten -- particularly at the top. 

A disastrous season from Oregon thus far, coupled with Ohio State's stumble amid quarterback uncertainty, USC's ups and downs and Indiana's offensive struggles has kept the Big Ten from having a clear elite team. UCLA is the lone undefeated squad, but the Bruins haven't had to prove it against another elite team yet and haven't earned the benefit of the doubt from the committee (or fans). 

As Cignetti said, eventually it will all play out on the field once the Playoff begins, but he wants to do his part to apply some pressure to help get not only his Hoosiers but other Big Ten teams into the dance.