illinidarrin
- from parts unknown
We are #20 in the coaches poll.
Week 8 Polls - Illinois #18 in AP Poll
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I'm surprised we did leapfrog Texas and that we didn't leapfrog Cincinnati.
Cincy beat Indiana and we didn't I guess fair is fair.
I refuse to acknowledge that loss.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
The further we get into the season the more I feel like that was the perfect loss for us at the perfect time. As long as that bad taste lingers we're going to be playing the right kind of football with the right attitude.I refuse to acknowledge that loss.
I was looking for the new AP rankings and stumbled on ESPN’s rankings. Their methodology:
“ESPN Football Power Index (FPI) college football rankings and computer prediction model are a measure of team strength that predicts a team’s future performance.
“Rankings and scores predictions are based on 20,000 simulations of a team’s season, using a combination of analytics, including scores to date, quality of opponents, and a team’s schedule.”
Week 8 results include Illinois unranked and Minnesota at #17. I knew I shouldn’t have clicked that link. ESPN continues to be a hot mess of an organization and not worth the few seconds I spent on their website.
“ESPN Football Power Index (FPI) college football rankings and computer prediction model are a measure of team strength that predicts a team’s future performance.
“Rankings and scores predictions are based on 20,000 simulations of a team’s season, using a combination of analytics, including scores to date, quality of opponents, and a team’s schedule.”
Week 8 results include Illinois unranked and Minnesota at #17. I knew I shouldn’t have clicked that link. ESPN continues to be a hot mess of an organization and not worth the few seconds I spent on their website.
This is most certainly true.
hooraybeer
- Pittsburgh, PA
NCAA College Football Rankings: AP Top 25 Football Poll
The official page for the AP Top 25 college football poll, a tradition since 1936. Keep up to date and view the latest ranking updates each week.
apnews.com
up to #18 in AP!
I think you might be right. My no-so-hot take at the time was that the IU loss made it less likely to get to 6 wins but somehow MORE likely to get to 8 or more. Wait— what? Yeah, I can’t justify the math to anyone other than my own internal monologue, and I know it sounds like mindless fan optimism and cognitive dissonance after a loss. But my thinking was that if Illinois was tracking to be a middling, mediocre team, then every win counts and every loss hurts. But if Illinois was on the road to something special, then that loss could be the final secret ingredient.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Up 6 spots in the AP poll. We’re the biggest positive mover in the week 8 polls.
What do the following football teams have in common?...
Texas
Baylor
LSU
Arkansas
North Carolina
South Carolina
Mississippi State
Pittsburgh
Central Florida
Answer: Two things. First, they are all legacy generational football powers.
And Second? The Illini are ABOVE all these teams in the current Coach’s Poll.
Illini fans are just going to have to get comfortable with Success. A great basketball program... and a rising football program.
Success is fun. Embrace the Joy. Winning never gets old.
Texas
Baylor
LSU
Arkansas
North Carolina
South Carolina
Mississippi State
Pittsburgh
Central Florida
Answer: Two things. First, they are all legacy generational football powers.
And Second? The Illini are ABOVE all these teams in the current Coach’s Poll.
Illini fans are just going to have to get comfortable with Success. A great basketball program... and a rising football program.
Success is fun. Embrace the Joy. Winning never gets old.
18. Could be top 15 by the time we play Nebraska.
Was thinking 20 or 21, so certainly can’t complain! Great momentum and buzz headed into a week of recruiting.
I don't know the methodology, but somehow Minnesota went up 2 spots in FPI (19th to 17th) and Illinois, despite starting much lower, only went up 3 spots (38th to 35th).
Our "Strength of Record" which is much more resume based (and in line with the AP Poll) has us 16th though. Our overall efficiency rating is 21st (55th offense and 4th defense, with 89th special teams).
Don't really how a thoroughly statistically domination of such a highly rated FPI team didn't move Illinois up more, or how Minnesota moved up being statistically dominated by a "lesser" team, but I guess I don't know what the raw numbers were before. I try not to focus too much on those overall things as they pertain to just our specific team because the whole of college football impacts things (MSU beats Wisconsin, that makes Minnesota's domination of MSU more impressive, etc.), but this one just seems weird.
FPI is designed to project forward results
Keep in mind that FPI also factors in past seasons to help predict future performance. We finished last year ranked 67 while Minnesota finished 27th. If you want stats based on past results rather than future projections you should look at the resume or efficiencies tab. It has us ranked #16 in strength of record which matches where we should be ranked pretty well.
Keep in mind that FPI also factors in past seasons to help predict future performance. We finished last year ranked 67 while Minnesota finished 27th. If you want stats based on past results rather than future projections you should look at the resume or efficiencies tab. It has us ranked #16 in strength of record which matches where we should be ranked pretty well.
The part I really like about this comment is you understand that Norte Dame is no longer a legacy generational power and being ranked ahead of them is nothing to get excited about.
To continue that thought... yesterday both Alabama and Southern California also go down to defeat. But that's not as notable as the rise of the Illini.
The old legacy powers will always attract talent just by their name plate, but the overall landscape is changing. Teams like the Illini and Kansas and Kentucky and Duke (and maybe even Indiana to an extent - all roundball powers by the way) are moving up in the gridiron World as well. The Portal is evening the field and more teams now have a legitimate chance at success and rapid improvement from year to year.
A legacy power has to work really hard to fall off that high perch. Michigan and Tennessee fell off for a while but got themselves way back up again. And today, Nebraska is still trying to figure out what went wrong and how to get back to respectability after 25 years of program slippage.
Illinois deserves to be football power. There was no good reason why Wisconsin and Iowa and Michigan (all neighborhood States) should be consistently successful while the Illini were so long trying to close that gap. (Yes, it goes back to leadership but that still left the question of why those States had that and not Illinois). And the State of Illinois has plenty of local talent.
For a program... it all grows from the top down. You got the right guys at the leadership positions... and success is going to be the result.
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
this is the key
for way too many years, we've had a President, Chancellor and AD who paid lip service at best (if that) to the notion of really caring if varsity sports mattered at all
in fact, we've had more than a few people in upper admin over the last 50 years , that really (albeit quietly) didnt like the distraction of sports and yearned to be like U of Chicago and the Ivy League . What we got was the direct result of that.
We saw what Wiscy (and then Northwestern) could do when admin really cared and people were held accountable .
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I bet the math of it isn't so much that a bunch of voters shot us up in their ballots, it's that now we're on everybody's ballot whereas last week we were rated by some people but also had a lot of 0's.
I'm not sure that we have administration that cares a lot about athletics so much as an AD that knows how to play the game with admin.
It will be #5 Illinois versus #4 Michigan by the time we play them.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
It takes two to tango.
Tim Killeen and Robert Jones have been very capable, practical stewards for the University during a really challenging period when those jobs have become as hard as they've ever been.
The same message has been very effective for both the University administration and the football team, and a big change from Illinois' recent past: don't beat yourself.
Illini92and96
- Austin, TX
While I agree with your general sentiment, saying we “deserve” to be a football power is way overstated. That comment would get jeers talking to football fans not associated with our school. We are 50+ years from any meaningful sustained success, did not pop even one year into serious national title consideration, nor come from a football hotbed state (Site I looked at showed Illinois 21st in players in the NFL). There would be a host of schools more deserving. I can get behind that statement for basketball though. We’ve had prolonged stretches of success the last 50 years, have had a couple teams in contention for best team in the country, and illlinois has the 5th most players in the NBA.
We need to go 10+ years without a losing record (at a minimum) and win a west title or a few to be taken seriously.
When I use the word ‘deserve’ I mainly mean the make-up of the State of Illinois when compared that of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
Illinois has a World-Class City. The other States do not. Chicago has lots of well-endowed suburbs. Illinois has a rich athletic history of Metro East. It has all the great towns in all the four corners of Illinois and mid-State that produce great athletes. And Illinois has a rich history of athletics in general.
Illinois has needed to retain that home-grown talent. Well all know that for many years much of that good Illinois went elsewhere in such of prospering. (You could fill an All-Time NBA team of greats just from Illinois talent. And a number of NFL greats, too).
Thankfully, Illinois talent doesn’t have to feel they need to go out of State to be successful if they don’t want to.
Iowa and Wisconsin and Michigan are all nice places (to be generous here)... but the make-up of those States does not match the essential character of Illinois. Maybe close in the case of Michigan... but Iowa and Wisconsin have over-achieved in terms of State School success. But they deserve credit for doing so.
That’s the idea here.
I’m not informed enough to comment on the university administration or its effectiveness and leadership. As an alumnus and fan for 40+ years, what I am seeing is a new level of “competence” in the football program.
Competence in the overarching things: A coaching staff that knows how to implement a defensive scheme that works with college-level talent. That knows how to bring in a top-tier quarterback through the transfer portal. And how to use an elite running back.
Competence on game-day: clock management, timeout usage. When to QB sneak. When to blitz. When to correctly accept and decline penalties.
And competence in the little things: Helmets that match the uniform colors. Decals that are applied straight. Wearing school-colors uniforms at Homecoming. Coaches not violating NCAA rules about tobacco use on sidelines. Coaches not getting bowled over by linesmen officials during play.
It’s this competence that causes me to believe this team’s success is going to last. Sure hope I’m right.
Competence in the overarching things: A coaching staff that knows how to implement a defensive scheme that works with college-level talent. That knows how to bring in a top-tier quarterback through the transfer portal. And how to use an elite running back.
Competence on game-day: clock management, timeout usage. When to QB sneak. When to blitz. When to correctly accept and decline penalties.
And competence in the little things: Helmets that match the uniform colors. Decals that are applied straight. Wearing school-colors uniforms at Homecoming. Coaches not violating NCAA rules about tobacco use on sidelines. Coaches not getting bowled over by linesmen officials during play.
It’s this competence that causes me to believe this team’s success is going to last. Sure hope I’m right.