The Illinois football team will look to make Memorial Stadium history this season by hosting its first-ever College Football Playoff game.
Especially at the start of the college season, the Illini are very much in charge of their own destiny.
Without question, Illinois will need to limit themselves to one or two losses at the most. Given last year's playoff bracket, with three of the four hosting teams having two losses prior to the playoffs, this should securely see them hosting.
Although their schedule features tough games against Indiana, USC, and Ohio State, the rest of it is very manageable. While this does allow them to have some room for error, these are key resume-building games if the Illini want to host.
Keeping in line with this ideal season, an 8-1 or 7-2 Big Ten regular season would likely see Illinois in the conference championship game. Looking back at last year's game, an undefeated Oregon played an 8-1 Penn State, but this season should provide more leeway.
With a conference that seems as tight and competitive as ever, underdog upsets could be consistent and aid the Illini.
Oddly enough, for the Illini to host, they would benefit greatly from losing the Championship game. A win would likely send them into a first-round bye by pushing them into a top 4 spot in the country.
However, a lack of a conference championship game does not immediately dismiss them from hosting. The results of the rest of the country could still determine their fate.
Illinois will have to put themselves within the top eight in the country, and with wins against Ohio State and USC or Indiana, that scenario becomes increasingly realistic, especially given their rank at the start of the season.
Teams in the top 10 always tend to falter later in the year or never get their season going together. The loss of others could result in a huge gain for Illinois.
While hosting a College Football Playoff game is somewhat far-fetched, it would go a long way for the program to be seen as an emerging national powerhouse and bring a lot of excitement to these dedicated fans.