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Illinois football College Football Playoff rankings projection after win over Rutgers

Illinois football took care of business against Rutgers, and with some chaos, we will be moving up in the College Football Playoff rankings.

By Rees Woodcock

Nov 23, 2024; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini running back Josh McCray (6) celebrates his touchdown during the second half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at SHI Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Nov 23, 2024; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini running back Josh McCray (6) celebrates his touchdown during the second half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at SHI Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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It was a wild weekend, as big programs lost and the Illinois football team squeaked out an insane win.

This victory for the Illini was not only big for the program, but it also kept an outside chance of making the College Football Playoff.

Now that the dust has settled, it is time to look at which programs Illinois will jump, which teams are a possibility to jump, and what programs to keep an eye on next week.

Here is the Illinois football College Football Playoff rankings projection after win over Rutgers

Illinois football CFP rankings - Guaranteed to jump (+3)

  • No. 19 Army – L 49-14 Notre Dame

Illinois is a lock to jump Army in the CFP Rankings on Tuesday. If the Black Knights had been competitive in their game against Notre Dame, I think they would have stayed ahead of Illinois. I fully expect Army to drop out of the rankings altogether.

  • No. 16 Colorado – L 37-21 Kansas

Colorado still has an outside chance to make the Big 12 Championship game, but their loss to Kansas on Saturday hurts. This loss gives the Buffaloes three losses, which will drop them down quite a bit. Colorado also lost by 16 points, which is an ugly loss. They also have the No. 61 strength of schedule, so they should drop below Illinois, which has a strength of schedule of No. 26 in the nation.

  • No. 15 Texas A&M – L 43-41 Auburn

The College Football Playoff committee loves them some SEC, but with Texas A&M losing to a struggling Auburn program, I think we could see Illinois jump the Aggies. This was Texas A&M’s third loss this season. The Aggies have now dropped two out of the past three contests, and the other one was to South Carolina by 24 points. I think Illinois passes Texas A&M by a spot or two. I could also see the Aggies losing to Texas next week.

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