Illinois Makes Its Move and Indiana Climbs in AP Top 25 College Football Poll

The Illini have been knocking on the door of the AP poll top 10, and all they needed was a convincing performance to walk through

Sep 6, 2025; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini linebacker Gabe Jacas (17) swats the ball from Duke Blue Devils quarterback Darian Mensah (10) during the second quarter at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

For Illinois, last week's move up from No. 12 to 11 in the AP Top 25 college football poll felt like a pat on the helmet for a task completed without resulting in utter catastrophe: a 52-3 win over Western Illinois? Sure, fellas. Nicely done. See you next week.

But after the Illini's 45-19 takedown of Duke – a darling of college football dark horses in 2025 – on its home turf Saturday in Durham, North Carolina? Well, Illinois' move in the Week 3 AP poll can be interpreted only one way: respect.

No. 9 in the AP Poll. Focused forward. pic.twitter.com/MAalTpgpit

— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) September 7, 2025

In the just-dropped rankings, Illinois checked in at No. 9 – a two-slot move that not only marks the program's first venture into the AP top 10 since 2001 but also seems to confirm what Illinois on SI has speculated for quite some time now: The experts just needed to see this 2025 Illini outfit put the hammer down on a quality opponent before fully buying in.

It helped that Clemson got dinged (dropping four spots) and South Carolina slipped (perhaps an acknowledgement that the Gamecocks – vanquished in last year's Citrus Bowl by roughly this same Illini squad – had no business moving ahead of Illinois in last week's poll?).

Illinois football cracks the AP top 10 for the first time in 24 years, moving up from No. 11 to No. 9 in Week 3. Heady stuff for Illini fans.

— Jason Langendorf (@JasonLangendorf) September 7, 2025

We'll know much more about the Illini's consistency and week-to-week resilience in a couple of weeks when Illinois meets No. 22 Indiana – up one spot from Week 2 after burying Kennesaw State on Saturday – in Bloomington. But already the Big Ten is shaping up as the cream of college football's crop, with No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Penn State and No. 4 Oregon occupying the top tier and six of the conference's clubs landing in the Top 25 overall.

And the aforementioned Hoosiers? They'll have one more sponge cake of an opponent in in-state "rival" Indiana State next week before the real fun begins for coach Curt Cignetti when the Illini come to town in Week 4. Given the shared border, proximity (a two-and-a-half-hour drive) and basketball bad blood between the schools, the matchup may actually percolate into a true Big Ten football rivalry for both. All the talk of Illinois being "this year's Indiana" surely rankles the insta-rankled Cignetti, probably almost as much as the fact that the Illini are in prime position to make it happen by making a legit run at the College Football Playoff.

IU and UI on the national college football stage, with real stakes involved? How cool is that?

AP Top 25 College Football Poll

1. Ohio State, 2. Penn State, 3. LSU 4. Oregon, 5. Miami (Fla.), 6. Georgia, 7. Texas, 8. Notre Dame, 9. Illinois, 10. Florida State, 11. South Carolina, 12. Clemson, 13. Oklahoma, 14. Iowa State, 15. Tennessee, 16. Texas A&M, 17. Ole Miss, 18. South Florida, 19. Alabama, 20. Utah, 21. Texas Tech, 22. Indiana, 23. Michigan, 24. Auburn, 25. Missouri.