Illinois Football: Big Ten West title is still Illini’s for the taking

Illinois football looks to inch one step closer to a Big Ten Championship berth despite dropping five spots to No. 21 in the latest CFP rankings.

Good things must come to an end, right? Well, that’s exactly what happened in Champaign a week ago Saturday when the Illini, then-ranked No. 16, got upset by a Michigan State team still recovering from an eight-player suspension against Michigan.

Through an effective passing attack and forcing a few key turnovers, the Spartans pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the college football season, knocking off the Illini 23-15. The loss dropped Illinois to 7-2 (4-2 B1G).

Despite the result, Illinois still controls its own destiny in the Big Ten West, as November 12 will mark Senior Day and one of the biggest games in recent memory at Memorial Stadium. The Illini are looking to take back the Cannon Trophy for the first time since 2019, along with snapping a five-game home losing streak to the Boilermakers.

Head coach Bret Bielema recognizes what’s at stake, both for the program and the university with everything that the game means. A game that likely no one would have expected to determine the Big Ten West back in August.

"“No one wanted to be 7-2 this week, but I didn’t come here to win five games,” Bielema said during his Monday presser. “I’ve made that very clear before it happened. We want to chase a Big Ten championship and, fortunately, as disappointing as Saturday was and because of what we’ve done, those things are still in front of us. To have three games left, mathematically, if we were to have success against Purdue, and win one of those other two and the chance of beating Purdue (for the division title) [is] 100%. I don’t think you can argue with three games left and anybody is going to feel bad about that scenario.”"

Illinois football can still win the Big Ten West.

If you would have told me that Illinois would still be in contention to win the Big Ten West in November after its loss in Bloomington, I wouldn’t have believed it. However, the defense, ranked No. 1 in several statistical categories, along with a breakout season from Chase Brown, has seen Illinois win six of seven to give themselves a fighting chance.

A victory against the Boilermakers will all but guarantee the Illini a spot in Indianapolis. At press time, Illinois is a game ahead of four teams: Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, and Minnesota. Three of those four teams are ones that the Orange and Blue hold a tiebreaker edge over, making Saturday’s game a must-win, and in all likelihood, an elimination game for Purdue.

All in all, November 12 has a chance to be a day that everyone associated with Illinois won’t soon forget.