Sep. 23—***

Two years in a row, the Illinois football team closed its season with a win against the big, bad SEC. Not too shabby for a team that had never knocked off the SEC in the postseason before Bret Bielena's team beat South Carolina at the Citrus Bowl following the 2024 season. Then came a Music City Bowl win against Tennessee.

To be fair, there had been only four earlier opportunities for Illinois against the SEC. The Illini lost to Alabama (Liberty), Florida (All American), LSU (Sugar) and Mississippi State (ReliaQuest). No shame in losing to any of those programs and three of the four games were close.

But if the current bowl projections are correct, Illinois may have to settle for a chance to beat a team from a league not named the SEC.

Two college football site have Illinois playing in the Cactus Bowl against Big 12 schools West Virginia or TCU. Another sends the Illini against UCLA in the First Responder Bowl.

Of course, the team still has work to do to clinch a berth. Illinois is four wins away from the required six. The most likely wins in Big Ten play will come against Purdue, Michigan State, Northwestern and Maryland. Nebraska, which visits Champaign, is another good possibility.

The remaining games against Ohio State, Oregon, UCLA and Iowa seem to be bigger challenges.

Keep checking back and will update the bowl scenarios.

Source: Yahoo Sports