Illinois football eyeing longer AP Top 25 streak than in 2022

The Illinois football team finally hit a speed bump in the 2024 season, as the Penn State Nittany Lions bested us on Saturday.

It is a huge ask for any team, let alone the Illini, to go into Happy Valley and beat the now-ranked No. 7 team in the country. Penn State has a good program, and I am not sure I have ever seen a more physical one-two punch at running back in my life.

The 21-7 loss to the Nittany Lions was surely to drop Illinois in the AP Top 25. I was projecting that the Illini would end up No. 25 in the country after the loss, but the results were better than expected.

On Sunday, the newest AP Top 25 was released, and they dropped Illinois just five spots down to No. 24 in the country. Illinois’ five-spot drop wasn’t the biggest among ranked teams either. Utah went from No. 10 to No. 18 and Louisville went from No. 15 to No. 22 in the country. That is an eight and seven-spot drop, respectively.

With Illinois football staying strong in the AP Top 25, we are looking to break the streak from the 2022 campaign

It is always great to see a number next to Illinois’ name. Despite the slight drop, we are still a top-25 team in the country, and that is exciting.

Illinois now heads into the bye week looking to improve on some of the issues that we ran into against Penn State. I expect the offensive line and the defensive line to do some work. Tackling is going to be another point of emphasis.

There is a lot to be positive about, though. Illinois is a good program, and we have now been ranked in the AP Top 25 for three straight weeks. Just a few years ago, I couldn’t even imagine being ranked. Now, we are seeing how long we can be in the top 25.

That three-week streak is starting to creep closer to the 2022 mark. That season, Illinois entered the AP Top 25 as the No. 24 team in the country. Illinois remained in the rankings for five straight weeks before being ousted after a loss to Purdue.

A bye week this weekend should keep Illinois in the AP Top 25. That would make four straight weeks. We then take on the Boilermakers the following weekend. A win against Purdue would give us five straight weeks in the AP Top 25, which would tie the 2022 streak. That might also cement a spot in the AP Top 25 for a sixth week, as we take on No. 6 Oregon in Eugene. A win or loss there should still keep us in the rankings.