Illinois #12 in Preseason AP Poll

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#1      

Dan

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Will be released around 11:00am CT
 
#2      
MoCoMdIllini
Scared Still Waiting GIF by Looney Tunes
 
#7      
Fighter of the Nightman
When is the last time Illini fans were POSITIVE we would be ranked preseason?? I can't remember the details as we headed into the 2008 season, but we were #20 to enter the season. I can't remember if that #20 was lower than expected or if there could have been any reason to think we MIGHT not be ranked to start the year. On one hand, we had just gotten stomped by (an admittedly elite) USC in the Rose Bowl, and we lost a significant amount of talent from that team ... on the other, we returned a ton of young talent and theoretically had a manageable schedule.*

* On that last note, it's easy to find the 7 losses now, but we lost a ton of games we shouldn't have that year, with some of the obvious ones being at home to Minnesota, Western Michigan in Detroit and a total "we-have-given-up" 17-poin loss to Northwestern. Also, two of our "tough games" were (A) a revenge matchup vs. Mizzou that at least some fans had optimism we could win and (B) another date with an OSU program we had been playing super tough lately, and this time we had them in our house as a good team. This season was such a disappointment.
 
#9      
Fighter of the Nightman
Quick rundown by conference, which always seems relative in this supposed "Big Two" era. I also included only the top 10 RV teams, so as to theoretically get a top 35.

SEC ... 10 ranked, 1 RV, 11 total
#1 Texas
#5 Georgia
#8 Alabama
#9 LSU
#13 South Carolina
#15 Florida
#18 Oklahoma
#19 Texas A&M
#21 Ole Miss
#24 Tennessee
RV - Missouri

BIG TEN ... 6 ranked, 2 RV, 8 total
#2 Penn State
#3 Ohio State
#7 Oregon
#12 Illinois
#14 Michigan
#20 Indiana
RV - USC
RV - Nebraska

BIG XII ... 4 ranked, 3 RV, 7 total
#11 Arizona State
#17 Kansas State
#22 Iowa State
#23 Texas Tech
RV - BYU
RV - Utah
RV - Baylor

ACC ... 3 ranked, 2 RV, 5 total
#4 Clemson
#10 Miami (FL)
#16 SMU
RV - Louisville
RV - Georgia Tech

INDEPENDENT/OTHER ... 2 ranked, 2 RV, 4 total
#6 Notre Dame
#25 Boise State
RV - Tulane
RV - UNLV

JMO and all, but I think you can make out the following clearly:

1. For the top ~15 teams or so, there is both (A) a fairly clear separation between "the Big Two" and everyone else and (B) pretty good equality between the Big Ten and SEC, with a slight edge to the SEC. However...

2. In the 16-35 range or thereabouts where it gets much more difficult to accurately sort the teams, I think this is when a lingering SEC bias shows itself. Whether it's fair or not, I think this is where you will see Tennessee and Ole Miss sneak into the top 25 way before BYU or Louisville. I also think it is where a "stacked-with-talent" USC team will be perceived as clear-cut worse than a "stacked-with-talent" Texas A&M team, even though both are somewhat unknowns and USC literally beat them in a bowl game last year (yes, I know it's a new season and tons of transferring in and out happens, but still).
 
#10      
Dan
This season can finally match or exceed so many great things that happened from 1989-1990, the heart of the John Mackovic era.

Last time IL started & finished ranked in AP Poll.

Most wins in school history in back-to-back years (18).

Last time all 3 things happened in back-to-back years- winning record vs Big Ten, winning regular season, winning season. (Note those 3 things separately did happen more recently in back-to-back years)

Speaking of the Mackovic era, last victory in Champaign over Ohio State (1991).
 
#12      
Fighter of the Nightman
And also for those interested, here are each Big Ten team's games vs. teams in that (admittedly arbitrary) top 35 cutoff. I separated the group by actual top 25 opponents, but I included the RV opponents just as some extra interesting information!

6 Top 25 Opponents
WISC - vs. #3 Ohio State, at #7 Oregon, at #8 Alabama, vs. #12 Illinois, at #14 Michigan, at #20 Indiana

5 Top 25 Opponents
PUR - vs. #3 Ohio State, at #6 Notre Dame, vs. #12 Illinois, at #14 Michigan, vs. #20 Indiana ...... vs. (RV) USC

4 Top 25 Opponents
NU - at #2 Penn State, vs. #7 Oregon, at #12 Illinois, vs. #14 Michigan at Wrigley ...... at (RV) USC, at (RV) Nebraska
USC - at #6 Notre Dame, at #7 Oregon, at #12 Illinois, vs. #14 Michigan ...... at (RV) Nebraska
IOWA - vs. #2 Penn State, vs. #7 Oregon, vs. #20 Indiana, at #22 Iowa State ...... at (RV) Nebraska
RUT - vs. #2 Penn State, at #3 Ohio State, vs. #7 Oregon, at #12 Illinois
OSU - vs. #1 Texas, vs. #2 Penn State, at #12 Illinois, at #14 Michigan
WASH - vs. #3 Ohio State, vs. #7 Oregon, vs. #12 Illinois, at #14 Michigan

3 Top 25 Opponents
UCLA - vs. #2 Penn State, at #3 Ohio State, at #20 Indiana ...... vs. (RV) Utah, at (RV) UNLV, at (RV) USC, vs. (RV) Nebraska
MSU - vs. #2 Penn State, vs. #14 Michigan, at #20 Indiana ...... at (RV) USC, at (RV) Nebraska
PSU - at #3 Ohio State, vs. #7 Oregon, vs. #20 Indiana ...... vs. (RV) Nebraska
UMD - at #12 Illinois, vs. #14 Michigan, vs. #20 Indiana ...... vs. (RV) Nebraska
IND - at #2 Penn State, at #7 Oregon, vs. #12 Illinois

2 Top 25 Opponents
MICH - vs. #3 Ohio State, at #18 Oklahoma ...... at (RV) USC, at (RV) Nebraska
MINN - at #3 Ohio State, at #7 Oregon ...... vs. (RV) Nebraska
NEB - at #2 Penn State, at #14 Michigan ...... vs. (RV) USC
ORE - at #2 Penn State, vs. #20 Indiana ...... vs. (RV) USC
ILL - vs. #3 Ohio State, at #20 Indiana ...... vs. (RV) USC

This somewhat random categorization obviously shouldn't be taken with a rain of salt, and there are other RV opponents of ours that we have to play on the road such as Duke and Washington (RV in the Coaches Poll, anyway) ... but you can AT LEAST make the argument we have one of the easier schedules in the conference. Of the teams in our category above, only Illinois and Michigan get their top 10 opponents at home, and Michigan has one more RV game than we do (both on the road, whereas we get USC at home).

Let's take advantage of this!!

P.S. Holy cow, pray for Wisconsin ... or don't! :ROFLMAO: Lol. Even their games outside of those SIX vs. the top 20 teams in the nation include a road trip to Minnesota, and home games vs. Iowa and Washington, who are both receiving votes in at least one of the Coaches Poll or the AP Poll. Even if they are a drastically improved football team and play really well, they could easily be staring at a SUPER frustrating 4-8 record and Fickell getting fired.
 
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#13      
Fighter of the Nightman
Dan said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1954937875847598100

https://twitter.com/x/status/1954940225945547254
Click to expand...
Making this even more depressing, this is MY personal life as an Illini football fan. FTR and for a trip down memory lane for some, the very first Illini game I REALLY remember watching start to finish with my dad as a fifth grader was our 2002 OT loss to #1 Ohio State. For some extra funny contest, I lived in Iowa City as a young Illini fan at the time, and our Hawkeyes friends were DESPERATELY rooting for us to shock the Buckeyes, as it would have sent Iowa to the Rose Bowl (IIRC) instead of the Orange Bowl. Anyway...

Year: Preseason ------> Highest Rank ------> Final Rank
2002: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2003: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2004: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2005: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2006: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2007: NR ------> #13 ------> #20
2008: #20 ------> #20 ------> NR
2009: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2010: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2011: NR ------> #16 ------> NR
2012: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2013: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2014: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2015: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2016: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2017: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2018: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2019: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2020: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2021: NR ------> NR ------> NR
2022: NR ------> #14 ------> NR
2023: NR ------>NR ------> NR
2024: NR ------> #16 ------> #16
2025: #12

So while I am aware older Illini fans have seen a lot more suffering well before 2002, I have seen Illinois finish in the top 25 just twice in 23 seasons of following them, and never once have I watched them enter the season with enough hype to be ranked and finish the season with enough success to STAY ranked. What Bret has done to this program has been nothing short of amazing.
 
#18      
TheFlyingIllini1317
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Quick rundown by conference, which always seems relative in this supposed "Big Two" era. I also included only the top 10 RV teams, so as to theoretically get a top 35.

SEC ... 10 ranked, 1 RV, 11 total
#1 Texas
#5 Georgia
#8 Alabama
#9 LSU
#13 South Carolina
#15 Florida
#18 Oklahoma
#19 Texas A&M
#21 Ole Miss
#24 Tennessee
RV - Missouri

BIG TEN ... 6 ranked, 2 RV, 8 total
#2 Penn State
#3 Ohio State
#7 Oregon
#12 Illinois
#14 Michigan
#20 Indiana
RV - USC
RV - Nebraska

BIG XII ... 4 ranked, 3 RV, 7 total
#11 Arizona State
#17 Kansas State
#22 Iowa State
#23 Texas Tech
RV - BYU
RV - Utah
RV - Baylor

ACC ... 3 ranked, 2 RV, 5 total
#4 Clemson
#10 Miami (FL)
#16 SMU
RV - Louisville
RV - Georgia Tech

INDEPENDENT/OTHER ... 2 ranked, 2 RV, 4 total
#6 Notre Dame
#25 Boise State
RV - Tulane
RV - UNLV

JMO and all, but I think you can make out the following clearly:

1. For the top ~15 teams or so, there is both (A) a fairly clear separation between "the Big Two" and everyone else and (B) pretty good equality between the Big Ten and SEC, with a slight edge to the SEC. However...

2. In the 16-35 range or thereabouts where it gets much more difficult to accurately sort the teams, I think this is when a lingering SEC bias shows itself. Whether it's fair or not, I think this is where you will see Tennessee and Ole Miss sneak into the top 25 way before BYU or Louisville. I also think it is where a "stacked-with-talent" USC team will be perceived as clear-cut worse than a "stacked-with-talent" Texas A&M team, even though both are somewhat unknowns and USC literally beat them in a bowl game last year (yes, I know it's a new season and tons of transferring in and out happens, but still).
Click to expand...
Duke and Pitt also RV for the ACC
 
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