Chambana Sun

The Illinois football team has concluded its regular season ranked at number 21 in the latest AP Top 25. This position reflects a rise of one spot from the previous week. The Fighting Illini also hold the same rank in this week's Coaches Poll.

With a record of 9-3 overall and 6-3 in the Big Ten, Illinois achieved nine or more regular-season wins for only the eighth time in its history. The last instance of such success was in 2007, which coincidentally was also when Illinois last finished the regular season within the AP Top 25 rankings, positioned at number 15.

This marks only the 13th occasion that Illinois has ended a regular season as part of the AP Top 25. It is also noteworthy as only the third time in three decades that they have secured a ranked finish (with prior instances being number eight in 2001 and number fifteen in 2007).

Illinois completed their regular season with a winning streak spanning three games, culminating in a victory over Northwestern by a score of 38-28 at Wrigley Field on Saturday. This victory was their fifth while being ranked this season, marking their highest since achieving six such victories back in 1990.

The team managed to secure three wins during November for the first time since their successful run in 2007. Now, attention turns to their postseason prospects with announcements regarding College Football Playoff and bowl pairings expected on Sunday, December 8.

Historical records show that Illinois' performance this year mirrors several notable past seasons where they finished highly ranked after regular play:

2024 — #21

2007 — #15

2001 — #8

1990 — #16

1989 — #11

1983 — #4

1963 — #3

1959 — #13

1953 — #7

1951 — #4

1950 — #13

1946 — #5

1944 — #15