Illinois Traps the Badgers Looking Ahead

The sleeping giant woke up for once.

And when it did, another Power Five behemoth fell.

How in the name of Dick Butkus the University of Illinois -- merely by virtue of its vast resources and location in the heart of Big Ten country -- has been a milquetoast football program for all these years is mystery enough.

 

How the Illinois took Wisconsin to the wire and then sealed the deal with a 32-yard FG at the gun.

That 24-23 takedown sent shockwaves through college football fans everywhere.

 

Well, let's put 2 and 2 together ...

• The Mamas & Papas were in Minnesota and dreaming of California,
• Soundgarden was looking California and feeling Minnesota, and because
• Wisconsin was playing Illinois and thinking Ohio State, now
• Minnesota could be on its way to California in the Rose Bowl.

 

Full marks to Lovie Smith's crew for feeling dissed, getting their backs up, and doing something about it. The ex-Bears coach's beard is showing every bit of his burden, trying to get the Illini to respectability.

But, circumstances be damned, dudes were clearly respectable today:

 

The Illini took what they were given, and the Badgers gave them a lot.

This was a classic trap game, and being real, even we had to question Sportbet -- one of our spiffy sponsors -- when it seemed like their prognosticator didn't consider who was coming up the week after.

For the record, the Golden Gophers don't play Ohio State this season, and they've got a bye week to prepare for hosting Penn State. PJ Fleck's charges now control their own destiny in the Big Ten West and possibly beyond.

 

South Carolina drilling Georgia in Athens was quite the surprise, but this one -- Wisconsin was a 30½-point favorite when all was said and done -- has the potential to really shake the CFP farce to its core.

With this albatross to carry around now, the Badgers can only hope for more craziness in the college football ranks. Odds are it'll happen somewhere, and it's gonna have to include their beating the Buckeyes, Gophers, and winning the Big Ten title game.

 

Meanwhile, there's joy in Champaign for now, but they've still gotta find three more wins to become bowl eligible.

That could be even more of a challenge than the one they've just overcome.