Earliest Illinois football has a chance to be ranked in the AP Top 25

At least 25 different fanbases got to experience something Illinois football fans didn’t experience on Monday.

25 programs not named the Illini found themselves with a number preceding their name in the week one AP Top 25 poll.

Not seeing Illinois’ name on the poll was disappointing but not unexpected. A 5-7 season in 2023 doesn’t exactly set the stage for a lot of outside optimism heading into 2024.

Multiple Big Ten teams are on the list, though. Three of those ranked conference foes are on Illinois’ schedule this season. Some of these teams might even be a little overrated.

When can Illinois fans feel the joy of having a number accompany them in a weekly poll? November 2022 was the last time we were ranked, but if things go well in 2024, when is the first time we could see Illinois in the AP Top 25?

Illinois football has plenty of big games to quickly move up the AP Top 25

Fine, I will say it. Eastern Illinois isn’t going to move the needle. All joking aside, Illinois has to make sure that game isn’t close heading down the stretch. Eastern Illinois isn’t a bad team, but we can’t overlook them.

Beating the Panthers is a must, but that won’t get us even a vote in the AP Top 25. The next game is against No. 22 Kansas. Now that is a needle-mover.

If Illinois takes down the Jayhawks at home, I believe we will get votes to be in the AP Top 25. The storyline is probably more, “Kansas isn’t as good as we thought,” rather than, “Illinois is a good team,” but a win over a ranked opponent would likely get us votes.

Central Michigan in Champaign won’t do anything for the rankings. Beating them is a must, and that will likely keep us in the votes to be ranked.

Game four is an interesting one. Illinois travels to Lincoln to take on Nebraska. The Cornhuskers currently have votes to be in the AP Top 25. If we were in college basketball, this would be a solid quad-one game.

I believe, that if Illinois takes down Eastern Illinois, No. 22 Kansas, and Central Michigan, we will get votes. If we go into Lincoln and beat a tough Nebraska team, Illinois will then see a spot in the AP Top 25.

Wouldn’t that be something? Illinois is 4-0 and a top 25 program heading into Happy Valley to take on a top 10 Penn State team. Boy howdy, that would be a wild game. Let me dream.