4. Illinois - won at Duke 45-19. Looks like Illinois is a contender
10) Indiana: looked more like the team that went to the CFB last year--against a patsy.
I think that the Illinois/Indiana game in Bloomington on September 20 may well be for a CFP spot. We'll see, there is a lot of football to be played but, my view from here is:
Illinois:
Currently 2-0:
- WMU is awful, 3-0
- at Indiana
- vs USC, lean loss but not impossible
- at Purdue, should be a win
- vs Ohio State, probable loss
- at Washington, maybe a toss-up?
- vs Rutgers, probable win
- vs Maryland, probable win
- at Wisconsin, maybe a toss-up?
- vs Northwestern, should be a win.
Winning the games they definitely should win (WMU, PU, RU, UMD, NU) gets them to seven wins. Split the toss-ups (at UDub, at UW) gets them to 8-1. Probable losses (tOSU, USC) gets them to 8-3. Beat IU and it is 9-3, CFP. Lose to IU and it is 8-4 and probably out.
Indiana:
Currently 2-0:
- IndianaSt is FCS, 3-0
- vs Illinois
- at Iowa, lean loss but not impossible
- at Oregon, probable loss
- vs MSU, probable win
- vs UCLA, probable win
- at Maryland, probable win
- at Penn State, probable loss
- vs Wisconsin, lean win but not impossible to lose
- at Purdue, probable win
Winning the games they definitely should win (IndianaSt, MSU, UCLA, UMD, PU) gets them to seven wins. Splitting at Iowa and vs Wisconsin gets them to 8-1. Probable losses (at Oregon, at Penn State) gets them to 8-3. Beat IL and it is 9-3, CFP. Lost to IU and it is 8-4 and probably out.