The first installment of the AP Top 25 was released on Monday, and Illinois football wasn’t invited to the party.
It has been a pretty solid last half-decade for the Illini, making three bowl games in the last four seasons. This includes winning 19 games in the last two campaigns and beating SEC programs in back-to-back bowl games.
The stigma of Bret Bielema’s time at Arkansas and Illinois’ past incompetence should have worn off by now, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with the first AP Top 25 poll of the 2026 season.
Illinois didn’t make the cut to be in the coveted top 25. We did get nine votes to be ranked, but that is rather low, all things considered. This is not a shocker by any means, but it is quite disappointing, considering I figured maybe the voters would trust the Illini more now that the proof is in the pudding.
9 votes.#Illini
— Writing Illini (@WritingIlliniFS) August 17, 2026
The Illini of old is not there anymore. We have an athletic director who cares. Bielema is doing a great job both recruiting freshmen and adapting to the ever-changing transfer portal landscape.
Sure, we lost Luke Altmyer to the NFL, but that is now back-to-back quarterbacks who have transferred in and then seen NFL time. That proves that Bielema knows who he wants, and that Illinois can develop the quarterbacks into solid talent.
Katin Houser is the next in line. He is a good transfer portal get for Illinois. He will be good, but the AP Top 25 voters still don’t trust the program.
Illinois football has proven we can climb in the AP Top 25, but staying there is another matter
In three of the past four seasons, Illinois has been in the AP Top 25 at some point. We actually started last season ranked No. 12 in the country, which was the highest we had started since the 1990 campaign.
Illinois has also been ranked inside the top 20 in three of the last four seasons. This program knows the AP Top 25, and just because we aren’t starting on the list doesn’t mean we can’t climb into the rankings.
AP Top 25 voters keep doubting us. That is their mistake. Illinois has a good program led by a good coach. Once again, the Orange and Blue will have to fight for everything we have.
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