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Something's left in the Illini tank afterall

Post by Champaign411  |  Monday, November 9 @ 8:35am

After holding on to win 35-32 at Minnesota on Saturday, the Illini have won two straight Big Ten games, boosting them to 3-6 and keeping their (mathematical) hopes alive to reach the coveted six victories for the season. And one would think that having the Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan games in the rear-view mirror might provide for a slate of winnable games to close out the season. But anyone who has given the schedule a look knows the season will end with match-ups as challenging as any they have had all season:

Nov. 14: The Illini host rival Northwestern, which just knocked off previously undefeated Iowa.

Nov. 27: The Illini visit 9-0 Cincinnati, which is trying to run the table and force its way into national title consideration.

Dec. 5: The Illini host Fresno State, which has won its last five games, including Saturday's 31-21 win at Idaho, which had been 7-2.

The good news: the Illini team that has shown up the past two weekends looks like a different squad than the one that snoozed through the first half of the season. At least they're making the remaining games worth paying attention to.