Stephen CohnWed, December 3, 2025 at 2:37 AM UTC·1 min readAgain, no shock here, but Illinois didn’t find its name in the CFP top 25 on Tuesday night when the final rankings came out before the 12-team playoff is unveiled this weekend.
The Illini, who finished the regular season at 8-4 after a snowy win over Northwestern, appeared in the CFP rankings once this season. They fell out of it just as quick after losing on the road to Wisconsin in Madison last month.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt’s still a successful season for the Illini, but Bret Bielema’s squad did have higher expectations, including a possible CFP berth, but defeats on the road to Washington and the Badgers derailed those plans. Illinois also lost to Ohio State (No. 1) and Indiana (No. 2) this season.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, you should put your money on one of those two teams winning it all next month. They have the Buckeyes’ title odds at +185, and Indiana at +330. The next closest team is Georgia, at +750.
Indiana and OSU will meet this weekend in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis.
Big Ten foe Oregon has the fourth-shortest odds to win a title at +1000, according to FanDuel. That’s tied with Notre Dame.
We’ll know where Illinois is bowling as soon as Sunday.
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