Illinois Football: Illini still getting national recognition in AP Top 25

Illinois football just completed a season with some massive peaks and valleys.

I would venture to say a majority of Illini fans were worried when we dropped the second game of the season to Indiana. This put us at 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten. This was a low valley.

After that loss, Illinois went on a six-game winning streak that saw us jump into the AP Top 25 and College Football Playoff rankings. This winning streak was a massive peak. We haven’t seen this type of success in a long time.

With the hopes of potentially making the College Football Playoff, a New Year’s Six Bowl, and/or the Big Ten Championship game, the Illini would then lose three games in a row. This was another pretty low valley for the fanbase. It also knocked us out of all national rankings.

But, on Saturday, Illinois capped off a roller-coaster season with a big 41-3 victory over Northwestern. This win brought us to 8-4 on the year, which is the best regular season we have had since 2007.

The Illinois football team still finished the 2022 season with votes to be in the AP Top 25.

Despite the three-game losing streak, the Illini continued to be somewhat in the national spotlight. We did drop out of the AP Top 25, but Illinois still earned votes to reenter the rankings.

After the loss to Michigan State, the Illini dropped down to No. 21 in the country. We then fell to Purdue, which dropped us outside of the top 25, but we still had 13 votes. Illinois would then lose a close game against now-No. 2 Michigan, and we still received 12 votes to be in the AP Top 25.

On Sunday, the final regular season vote was released by the AP Top 25. The Illini pounded a bad Northwestern team, but we ended up losing a couple of votes. Despite losing votes, Illinois still had 10 votes to be in the AP Top 25 at the end of the season.

It has been a long time since Illinois has consistently been in the top 25 conversation. That is the sign of a solid program. I think it is fair to say that the foundation has been built. Lurking around the top 25 is something Illini fans need to get used to moving forward. The future is bright.