I think a lot of people are underestimating how drastically different the "vibe" around this team and its CFP chances will change if we win out. You might not see these super impressive wins (sans Washington, given it's on the road), but 10-2 with losses to possibly the top two teams in the nation is almost certainly a CFP (regardless of the margins of defeat in those losses) unless an unusual situation occurs where we are squeezed out. In other words, we'll have an excellent chance.
Let's remember that last year's team was 6-3 and unranked in the CFP rankings on November 9 during our bye week after we lost to Minnesota at home the week before. Our CFP ranking increased by the following amount for the following results. Record is in parentheses to show the "quality" of the win.
---> Illini NR in CFP Poll
Nov. 16 - W 38-16 vs. (5-7) Michigan State
---> Illini #25 in CFP Poll
Nov. 23 - W 38-31 at (7-5) Rutgers
---> Illini #23 in CFP Poll
Nov. 30 - W 38-28 vs. (4-8) Northwestern at Wrigley
---> Illini #20 in CFP Poll entering our Citrus Bowl matchup with South Carolina
So by beating three mediocre teams, we went from unranked to top 20 ... about 2-3 "bumps" per game. I think we would move up more than that this year given we don't have that effectively disqualifying third loss yet, but let's just assume we get 3 spots for the Washington win and 2 for the others. CFP Poll isn't out yet, so I'll just have to use our AP ranking for the sake of this exercise:
---> Illini #23 today
Oct. 25 - W at Washington
---> Illini #20
Nov. 1 - W vs. Rutgers
---> Illini #18
Nov. 8 - Bye Week
---> Illini stay at #18
Nov. 15 - W vs. Maryland
---> Illini #16
Nov. 22 - W at Wisconsin
---> Illini #14
Nov. 29 - W vs. Northwestern
---> Illini #12
If we have won 5 straight games, are 10-2, likely ranked at or near the top 12 and our only losses are to #1 OSU and #3 Indiana?? We will all rightfully be hoping for a CFP invite.