Illinois Football: The script has flipped as the Illini make AP Top 25

As an Illinois football fan, I thought it was pretty exciting last week when we had six votes to be in the AP Top 25.

Those six votes represented the slog the Illini program has gone through since Bret Bielema took over as head coach. Finally, we were good enough to have some type of positive national recognition.

Illinois took those six votes into the Iowa game this past Saturday. We were playing in a game that had tremendous ramifications for the first time in a long time. A loss would probably result in a drop out of the “Others receiving votes” section of the AP Top 25. A win, on the other hand, would likely result in being ranked.

Despite everything going against us, the Illini managed to emerge victorious against the Hawkeyes, 9-6. This was a tremendous win and, yes, one that had enough juice to boost us in the national rankings.

On Sunday, the AP Top 25 was released. As I scanned feverishly through the rankings, I slowed when I got to the No. 20 team in the nation. A slow scroll then occurred. No. 21 Cincinnati. Kentucky would follow. And then there was some orange, but it was the wrong shade as Texas was next on the list. But then there it was.

No. 24 Illinois.

A sight I am not sure I would ever see again. Illinois dons the AP Top 25. It is nerve-racking and exciting all at the same time. This program is relevant again.

Illinois football now has expectations for the first time in a long time after being ranked in the AP Top 25.

Looking back to 2017-2020, it is hard to imagine Illinois being ranked in the AP Top 25. The program was at such as low. We couldn’t find a quarterback, we had a coaching staff that was either geared toward the NFL or they weren’t the right fit, and it felt like we were just in football purgatory.

In steps Bret Bielema and his underrated ability to know how to run a college football program. Being a head coach is way more than just x’s and o’s, and Bielema gets that. He has quickly stabilized the Illinois football program and made us a relevant team once again.

With this relevancy comes expectations, though. I love that fact. Illinois is now ranked No. 24 in the nation, and everyone is going to be coming for us.

Illinois welcomes in Minnesota this week. The Golden Gophers have five votes to be in the AP Top 25. A win over the Illini means they will likely sneak into the rankings. They are going to give us their best shot.

In the past, Illinois was a joke. We were a team on everyone’s schedule where they would look at and think it was a tune-up game. Those days are gone. The script is flipped. Illinois football is, finally, a team to be feared.