The good feels for the Illinois football program are still permeating throughout the national landscape.
There were a lot of people doubting the Illini and the No. 12 ranking to start the season. Those same detractors thought Illinois was going to stumble and possibly drop the first tough game of the season against Duke.
Illinois didn’t just pass the first test with flying colors, but the AP Top 25 thought the Orange and Blue were worth a bump in the national rankings.
On Sunday afternoon, the newest AP Top 25 was released. The updated version has Illinois now inside the top 10, sitting at No. 9 in the nation. That is a two-spot jump from week one’s rankings of No. 11.
Illinois has now passed a familiar foe in the AP Top 25
The top 10 ranking is a pretty big deal for the Illini. This is the highest AP Top 25 ranking for Illinois since the 2001 season, when we reached as high as No. 7 in the country.
Illinois got to No. 9 by not only winning a big game on Saturday, but there were some teams that dropped as well.
One of the teams the Illini managed to pass was South Carolina. The Gamecocks dropped one spot to No. 11 despite moving to 2-0. I never understood why they were ahead of us after beating them in the Citrus Bowl last season, but the rankings are finally shaking out.
Illinois was also able to pass Clemson. They fell to LSU last week and then struggled against Troy on Saturday. This was enough to drop the Tigers from No. 8 to No. 12 in the AP Top 25.
This was a great week for the Illini. Moving to No. 9 in the AP Top 25 is a huge deal for the program. Let’s continue winning and see how high we can get that ranking.