The improbable run started when Northern Iowa grabbed a 13-3 lead on Iowa and seemed ready to burst the Hawkeyes' bubble the first week of the college football season.

Little did anyone know at the time that Iowa's 17-16 come-from-behind win would be the beginning of a recurring story for a team that has persevered to reach No. 4 in this week's Bowl Championship Series standings.

The Hawkeyes have struggled repeatedly against the best and worst of the Big Ten, not to mention the Missouri Valley and Sun Belt conferences. Yet, here they are 9-0 with games remaining against Northwestern, Ohio State and Minnesota. Only the game against the Buckeyes is on the road.

The good fortune continued Saturday when Iowa overcame a 21-7 second-half deficit at home against Indiana for a 42-24 win.

"We haven't gotten off to a whole lot of fast starts this year," coach Kirk Ferentz said in his postgame news conference. "But the good news is our guys don't buckle. If they're ever going to buckle, (Saturday) would have been the day. But they just keep playing, believe in each other."

The Hawkeyes' win helped them stay alive in the BCS chase along with several other unexpected contenders - No. 5 Cincinnati, No. 6 TCU and No. 7 Boise State. The difference is that those teams keep winning with authority.

Included among Iowa's other escapes this season:

- Trailing 10-5 entering the fourth quarter at Penn State, the Hawkeyes rallied to win 21-10 thanks largely to a blocked punt returned for a touchdown by former Webster Groves star Adrian Clayborn.

- The following week, Iowa was favored by three touchdowns at home against Arkansas State and survived 24-21.

- Wisconsin jumped in front 10-0 at Madison, only to see the Hawkeyes rally for a 20-10 win.

- And a week before beating Indiana, Iowa scored a touchdown on the game's final play to win 15-13 at Michigan State.

The luckiest 9-0 team in the country?

"That's OK," receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos said. "They do not understand our mentality. ... Eventually, when the season is over, we are going to have a record and hopefully it's without a loss, and maybe then we might not be the underdogs. But who knows, we still might be."

Good fortune was abundant against Indiana.

The Hoosiers were on the 2-yard line and on the verge of adding to their 21-7 lead in the third quarter when Tyler Sash came up with a deflected interception that he returned 86 yards for a touchdown.

On their next possession, the Hoosiers appeared to score on an 11-yard touchdown pass, but the play was overturned with a disputed decision and Indiana missed a field goal.

The Hawkeyes overcame five interceptions thrown by quarterback Ricky Stanzi to score 28 points in the fourth quarter.

Ferentz compared this season to 2004, when the Hawkeyes won their final eight games with scores like 6-4, 23-21, 29-27 and 30-25. The last game was a win over LSU in the Capital One Bowl.

"You couldn't cut it any closer than that," he said. "But all I know is we won eight straight that year and it felt pretty good. We won the championship, got championship rings, which felt pretty good. So, yeah, it would be wonderful to win by a lot. But I'm not worried about that, and I'm not sure our guys are."