By Woodrow Carroll
Saturday’s University of Illinois 11 a.m. football game at Wisconsin will find the Illini in an unusual situation, namely, Illinois has the better won-loss record.
Visiting Illinois will arrive in Madison, Wis. with a 3-1 overall record and the Wisconsin 2-2. What was once a spirited rivalry between the two Big Ten West Division schools has been nearly all Wisconsin in recent seasons. Illinois has been on the short end of the score in 11 of the past 12 games. The lone Illinois victory was its 24-23 upset of the No. 6-natioinally ranked Badgers three years ago.
Thanks to a 31-0 shutout of visiting Chattanooga, Thursday, Sept. 22, the Illini have opened a few eyes in a positive way. The conquest of Chattanooga was the third time in four games that Illinois has not yielded a touchdown. In victories over Wyoming, 38-6, and Virginia, 24-3, the field goal was the Illini’s opponents’ only scoring salvo.
Illinois and Wisconsin each has dropped its lone Big Ten Conference game. Illinois fell, 23-20, to Indiana, Thursday, Sept. 2.. Wisconsin was roughed up, 52-21, by Ohio State Saturday, Sept. 24.
Illinois head coach Bret Bielema overall won-loss record to 8-8. Bielema was 5-7 last season in his first year at Illinois. That may not seem impressive, however, Bielema’s predecessor at Illinois, Lovie Smith was 5-11 after 16 games and never came close to the .500 won-loss record from that point on in his four-and-a-half seasons.
It may not seem meaningful, however, bowl projections from sources have the Illini going to one of the minor bowl games that dot the gridiron landscape. For a program that has made it to one bowl, the 2019 Redbox Bowl, in the past seven seasons, a postseason invitation of any kind would be welcome. The Illini likely would have to win at least three more football games to be eligible for a bowl game.
• The Mid-American Conference (MAC) has the dubious distinction of not having a team with a winning record this season entering games this week. The best record of any of the 12 schools is 2-2. Overall, the MAC was 16-32. Worse, the MAC is 9-2 against FCS (non-major) foes. It is not pretty when MAC teams play teams their size. Given that MAC teams will be in action mostly against each another the rest of the season, improved records are sure to pop up through the end of the season.
• Northern Illinois, 1-3, was competitive in falling, 31-23, at No. 7 nationally-ranked Kentucky Saturday, Sept. 24. Kentucky, 4-0, was pressed to the end by Northern Illinois. Conference play is on tap for Northern Illinois at Ball State, 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1
• One MAC team that did beat a name opponent last weekend was Miami, Ohio. The RedHawks edged Northwestern, 17-14.
Northwestern, 1-3 1-0 is long removed from the euphoria surrounding the season-opening victory over Nebraska in Big Ten play. Northwestern has lost to Southern Illinois and Miami, Ohio.
• Seven games have been played between Big Ten and MAC teams this season. The defeat suffered by Northwestern at the hands of Miami, Ohio is the lone blot on the Big Ten’s resume in those seven games.
Northwestern will play at Penn State, at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1. Although both teams are 1-0 in won-loss records in the Big Ten, that’s where the comparison ends.
Penn State is 4-0 overall and ranked No. 11 nationally in the polls. Penn State is in the power -packed Big Ten East with No. 3-ranked Ohio State and No. 4 Michigan who have their sights on national glory.
As you might imagine, the Big Ten is winning the majority of its games against non-conference opposition. Overall, the B-10 is 39-17 with the East Division doing the most of the damage. The B-10 East is 23-5 and the B-10 West is 16-12.
Each Big Ten team plays three games with foes from the other division.
Illinois already has lost to Indiana, Thursday, Sept. 2 and will play visiting Michigan State 1November 5 and at Michigan November 19.