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Illinois Football Climbs to No. 22 in Week 8 AP Top 25 Rankings

The Illini host No. 24 Michigan in a key Big Ten game on Saturday at Memorial Stadium
Steven Greenberg|
Oct 12, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini wide receiver Pat Bryant (13) scores a touchdown catch over Purdue Boilermakers defensive back Botros Alisandro (19) in the second half at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images
Oct 12, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini wide receiver Pat Bryant (13) scores a touchdown catch over Purdue Boilermakers defensive back Botros Alisandro (19) in the second half at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

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Illinois Fighting IlliniMichigan WolverinesPurdue BoilermakersSMU MustangsArmy West Point Black KnightsNavy Midshipmen

Who says style points matter? Despite playing throughout the second half of Saturday's game against Purdue like it was giving football a try for the first time, Illinois actually moved up in the Week 8 AP Top 25, from 23rd to 22nd – whether they deserved it or not.

This, after a frenetic, last-minute comeback to force overtime and finally win 50-49 in a game it had led 27-3 in the third quarter. The Illini (5-1) will gladly take the win, but they were lucky to be playing the Boilermakers (1-5), who clearly are one of the worst teams in the Big Ten and across the power conferences.

SMU was the only team to jump Illinois, moving up four spots to No. 21 despite having been off for the weekend. Interestingly, Michigan, which also had a bye week, stayed put at No. 24. Army (23) and Navy (25) crashed the poll for the first time this season, with Oklahoma and Utah tumbling out.

The Illini will host Michigan (4-2) Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT (CBS) in an important contest for both teams. The game will take place 100 years and one day after the famed Dedication Game at Memorial Stadium in which Illini legend Red Grange scored four touchdowns in 12 minutes to help take down the mighty Wolverines.

Illinois also moved up two spots in the coaches poll, to No. 21, passing Michigan, which stayed at No. 22.

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Steven Greenberg
STEVEN GREENBERG

Greenberg is a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, has written about college sports since the early 1990s. He covered University of Wisconsin football and basketball in the early 1990s before spending nearly 20 years as a magazine editor and writer. A former managing editor, features writer and college football columnist for The Sporting News, he has written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone and Bleacher Report and joined the Sun-Times in 2013.

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