Seven games into the season, and the Illinois football team is in the hunt for the prestigious College Football Playoff.
Those are words that I didn’t think I would ever utter, let alone so soon in the College Football Playoff era. The Illini currently sit at 6-1 overall and 3-1 in Big Ten play. After the new AP Top 25 was released on Sunday, we are now ranked as the No. 20 team in the country.
The AP Top 25 is just the appetizer, though. People can pick at that while they wait for the main course, the College Football Playoff rankings.
Tuesday, November 5, marks a big day for multiple reasons. The first being the end of all the political commercials. For the love of God, stop with the commercials. Secondly, it is the reveal night of the first College Football Playoff ranking. This takes place between 6:00 p.m-7:00 p.m. CT on ESPN.
It blows my mind that Illinois is even in the discussion at any point this season. Coming into the year, I had us finishing 8-4, but that was due to a fury at the end that had us winning the final four games of the season. But Illinois now sits with a record that puts us in the mix to possibly crack that coveted 12-team playoff.
With a loss to Penn State earlier this season, Illinois can’t afford to drop another game. We lack the name brand, so having two losses will likely bump us out completely. Avoiding that second loss will be tough, as the Illini head to Eugene this weekend to take on the No. 1 ranked Oregon Ducks.
Illinois football could send shockwaves through the college football world and the College Football Playoff with a win over Oregon
This weekend will be very impactful for the future of the Illini in 2024. At this point, we are bowl eligible with six wins, and there is a decent chance to get to double-digit victories this season. If you would have told me that before the season started, I would have took that immediately.
But with the way the year is playing out, my hopes and dreams for Illinois are bigger than 10 wins and a solid bowl game. I have elevated my hopes to the College Football Playoff.
To get to that point, Illinois is going to have to take down Oregon this weekend. As the No. 1 team in the country, the Ducks have already beaten the then-No. 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. Boise State was the next-best victory for Oregon this season.
The Ducks have a good program, and let’s make no mistake about it, if Illinois pulls this game off, chaos breaks loose in the College Football Playoff.
With a win, Illinois moves to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten. We would have four wins over then-ranked opponents, which includes a victory over the No. 1 team in the country.
On top of that, a win for the Illini moves us ahead of Oregon in the Big Ten standings. The teams sitting at the top would be Indiana, Penn State, and Illinois. The Illini would also likely jump numerous teams and be ranked somewhere around No. 10 in the AP Top 25 poll.
When the College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams, they didn’t think Illinois would have a shot at making noise. This playoff was for those fringe teams who were left out and wanted a shot. Illinois would be crashing the party in the most exciting way possible.
Let us not forget the last time Illinois played the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25. A Rose Bowl trip was on the line, and Illinois came through with one of the biggest wins in program history over Ohio State. 17 years later, could history repeat itself?