Illinois Football: Illini continue strong rise in the AP Top 25

Another week is in the books, and another win is under the belts of the Illinois football program.

It was a great weekend for the Illini. Not only did the basketball team have an exhibition game to get fans excited about the upcoming season, but the football team went to Lincoln and handled the Nebraska Cornhuskers with relative ease.

This big victory moved Illinois to 7-1 on the season and 4-1 in the Big Ten. This is the best start by any Illini team since the 2001 season when the Kurt Kittner-led Orange and Blue went 10-2 and made the Sugar Bowl.

With a win over the Cornhuskers, I expected Illinois to move up in the rankings. Last week, we were No. 17 after a bye week. This week, after beating Nebraska, the Illini have moved up to No. 14 in the nation.

Illinois football should continue jumping up in the AP Top 25.

This No. 14 ranking is pretty monumental for the Illini. While it is well-documented that the last time we were ranked was back in 2011, you would have to go back to the 2007 campaign to find the last time Illinois was ranked as high as No. 14. That season, we reached No. 13 in the nation and made the Rose Bowl.

The AP Top 25 having the Illini as the No. 14 team in the country comes just two days before the first College Football Playoff rankings are released. If this is any sign of things to come, expect Illinois to be somewhere in the top 15 in that poll as well.

It is fun to think about Illinois being in the top 15, but there is a solid chance that we aren’t finished climbing in the polls.

In the next two weeks, the Illini welcome in Michigan State and Purdue. These are two beatable teams. A win over both of those programs would guarantee Illinois makes the Big Ten Championship game, and it would mean a likely climb near or inside the top 10 nationally.

If that happens, the last time Illinois cracked the top 10 in the AP Top 25 was back in 2001 when we got to No. 7 in the country.

Enjoy this ride, Illini fans. I believe Bret Bielema is the right coach for the job and the future is bright for this program, but trust me when I say, you never know when this type of winning will happen again. Let’s enjoy what we are watching.