Despite disappointing defeat, Illinois football should still be in the AP Top 25

Illinois football fans entered Saturday with a ton of hope for another top-25 win, but those hopes were dashed in the second half against Penn State.

The Illini played a solid game against the Nittany Lions. We had chances to take the lead in the game, but Penn State just proved to be too much.

It was the second straight week Illinois had been ranked in the AP Top 25. We saw a number next to our name for the first time since 2022 just a couple of weeks ago. A big win over a ranked Nebraska program last week shot us up to No. 19 in the country.

A loss always drops a team some spots, but how much will a loss on the road against the No. 9 team in the country drop the Orange and Blue?

Illinois football should still find a spot in the AP Top 25 when it is released on Sunday

If we are talking about basketball, the game Illinois played against Penn State on Saturday was a high-level quad-one game. It is a road contest against a top-10 team. That shouldn’t count too much against us. In addition to that, we had Penn State on the ropes. This wasn’t a blowout game.

Teams behind Illinois did see success this week, though. The only team to fall was No. 20 Oklahoma State. They lost by 22 points to No. 23 Kansas State. So, the Cowboys will stay behind Illinois, and I imagine the Wildcats jump us. That puts Illinois at No. 20.

No. 21 Oklahoma, No. 22 BYU, No. 24 Texas A&M, and No. 25 Boise State all won their games this week. I think it is fair to say they all jump ahead of Illinois in the rankings. So, if Kansas State and the four teams I just mentioned jump us, that puts Illinois at spot No. 24.

Among the programs that received votes this week, I think Indiana is the only team that will jump into the AP Top 25. Washington State lost, Boston College had a lackluster win, and UNLV is likely to be the first team out of the top 25.

I think Indiana likely jumps Illinois in the rankings. I project the Hoosiers being ranked No. 24 in the nation.

When it is all said and done and the AP Top 25 releases its new poll this afternoon, I think Illinois will end up still being ranked. I have the Orange and Blue heading into the bye week ranked No. 25 in the country.