Illinois Football drops to No. 73 in latest S&P+ rankings following loss to Purdue

Illinois Football suffered a completely embarrasing 34-31 defeat at the hands of Purdue on Saturday. While that result predictably hurt the program’s standing in the latest S&P+ rankings, the damage actually wasn’t that bad. The Fighting Illini check in at No. 73 overall this week, which is only three spots lower than their Week 6 mark.

Thanks to Chayce Crouch’s late game heroics (?) in place of an injured Wes Lunt, the Fighting Illini offense improved to No. 70 (+7) with their performance. However, the defense experienced another steep decline, falling another 13 spots to No. 70 overall. Special Teams is No. 44 (+3) despite missing a potential game-winning field goal at the end of regulation.

Also, Illinois is still 17 spots higher than No. 90 Purdue. Makes sense! The Orange and Blue also remain in front of Oregon State, South Carolina, Kentucky, Duke, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Kansas, and Rutgers.

Speaking of the Scarlet Knights, they’ve surpassed the Jayhawks as the worst Power 5 team on paper — I guess that’s what happens when you lose a game 78-0. So Illinois may be occupying the nation’s cellar should they manage to drop yet another game next weekend.