Illinois 28, No. 1 Ohio State 21: Dude, WTF?!?

Now, I know if I post a blog article about my beloved Illini upsetting No. 1 Ohio State, everyone who’s reading closely will accuse me of only posting when my teams do something good. But since I really do that anyway, and since I can count on no hands how many of you are reading me closely (or at all), it doesn’t bother me that much.

I myself am still in shock. I have watched the Illini live several times this year, and while it’s apparent that they are improving each week, I had no idea they were at this level yet.

In fact, I was so certain that Illinois would lose that I watched the game with a Buckeye friend of mine specifically because, despite being a avid Ohio State fan, she never gets into the whole fan rivalry scene, so I figured I could watch how closely Illinois could measure up with someone who would be benevolent in victory. If I had any inkling Illinois, a 15-point underdog, could actually pull off the upset, I never would have dragged her out.

This has been a tremendous year of vindication for Ron Zook after all the close misses in last year’s 2-10 train wreck. It all culminated on Saturday with a very disciplined performance. His quarterback won the game with his arm and his feet, his offense didn’t turn the ball. Heck, the whole team had exactly one penalty in 60 minutes. Clearly, Zook can do more than recruit.

If someone had told me before this season that Illinois would be 8-3, 5-2 right now, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. There would have been no worries about who handed us the losses or how those games could have had the Illini in the Big Ten title chase, so I will not focus on those things now. After all, this team is still young and improving, and we can expect more from them next year. This year, the Illini have performed beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

Bupkis for the Buckeyes

All that said, Ohio State is in a serious load of trouble in their attempt to get back in the title game. The Buckeyes fell only to the No. 7 spot in the BCS standings, which shouldn’t be an insurmountable obstacle, but the way things will play out, they will actually need Oregon and LSU to both lose another game.

Here’s why: Three of the teams ahead of Ohio State are in the same conference. Kansas and Missouri still have to play, and the winner will likely play Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game. All of this means one of those teams is likely to stay ahead of OSU.

There are a lot of ways Ohio State could climb ahead of West Virginia, but Oregon and LSU are unlikely to drop out of their spots unless they lose. With the Big 12 winner in line ahead of OSU, only one of the top two dropping out of the picture is not enough.

Now, I’m not convinced Ohio State is necessarily worse than Oregon and LSU. The Tigers’ one loss was to Kentucky, which has a resume very similar to Illinois’, and Oregon lost to California, which arguably looks weaker right now, although Cal was 5-0 when the Ducks beat them.

But the reality is that Oregon and LSU are locked into the top spots for now. And that just shows you how unforgiving college football is – lose one game at any time to anybody, and nothing is guaranteed.