Illinois Football: Magnitude of Illini beating Wisconsin is unmatched

Illinois football fans should be celebrating this victory regardless of this article, but where does this win fall in the magnitude of wins in recent years?

The Lovie Smith era didn’t have a ton of big wins before Saturday. I would say his biggest win came during his first season in Champaign. Illinois went up against Michigan State and was able to come away with a 31-27 win over the Spartans. But this wasn’t a ranked game. So, the win over No. 6 Wisconsin is easily the biggest in the Lovie era. Let’s go back further.

2015 featured the Bill Cubit era of Illinois football. He only had one season, and his biggest win was easily against Nebraska where the Illini seemed to have a thousand tries at a touchdown and eventually had Geronimo Allison catch the game-winning score to win 14-13. This was the biggest win of the Cubit era, but it doesn’t come close to beating No. 6 Wisconsin.

The Tim Beckman era didn’t feature too many wins. His best season was 2014 where the Illini won six games and made a bowl appearance. There weren’t a lot of good wins in there, but the biggest that stood out to me was beating a Penn State team that had a winning record. Illinois took down the Nittany Lions 16-14. This Penn State team had some big NFL talent too. But, still, this doesn’t come close to beating No. 6 Wisconsin.

I think we have all been waiting for the Ron Zook era. This was the last time we could beat a ranked team before Saturday. Zook was able to take down some ranked opponents. He beat No. 22 Arizona State, future Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III and Baylor, No. 21 Penn State, No. 5 Wisconsin and No. 1 Ohio State. His run was filled with some big games.

The win over No. 5 Wisconsin during that Rose Bowl season was big, but the Illini were 4-1 heading into that game with a win over a ranked team already. They were on the map. But the win that launched this program into the Rose Bowl was when they beat No. 1 Ohio State. The magnitude of that victory is hard to measure. But does it beat out the victory on Saturday against No. 6 Wisconsin?

I would say the win on Saturday means more to this program than the win against Ohio State. I realize that beating the No. 1 team in the nation is huge and playing in the Rose Bowl is even bigger. But that team was already 7-3 heading into the game against the Buckeyes. The fanbase was already positive and excited about the future.

Illinois beating Wisconsin does so much for the current state of the program and the future as well. This win gives fans, recruits and current players proof that this process is working. This win shows the world we can compete with the big boys. It shows this coaching staff is here to win and the players are buying in. It shows the arrow is still pointing up for this team that continues to fight.

I could continue to go back and point out other games of similar magnitude. The win over No. 9 Michigan in 1999. The win over No. 9 Colorado in 1990. Knocking off No. 5 USC in 1989. Beating No. 5 Ohio State in 1985. All of these games were huge, but I would argue the win against No. 6 Wisconsin on Saturday carries the most weight. This win is up there with the biggest in program history.