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For the Fans

Some thoughts and other random stuff after Saturday's ILL-MSU game

Posted by: Tom Young

Monday, October 12, 2009 7:56 AM

I don’t think there's really anything else to say about this team right now, so I figured I would do something a bit different. Let’s take a look at some teams in division I football that will probably end the year with more wins than Illinois.

Idaho Vandals (5-1) – It isn’t #5 Boise St. leading the WAC right now, it’s this often unheard of school Moscow, Idaho that's playing some very good football. Their only loss came to the Washington Huskies 42-23, and remember Washington beat USC. Will Idaho run the table in the WAC? Probably not, but one more win makes them eligible to play in ther first bowl game since 1998. They still got to play Utah State, so I say their chances are good.

Duke Blue Devils (3-3) – Last year they went 4-8. The year before that, they went 1-11, and the year before that they went 0-12, and the year before that they went 1-11 (you get the idea). This year, they’re scoring some points, with lofty wins over Army and North Carolina State. Will Duke go bowling? I doubt it. But at least they’re going the right direction after a few years of what had to be unwatchable football.

Washington Huskies (3-3) – They got that nice win over USC this year, which is super impressive considering this didn’t win a single game last year. You do have to keep an eye on QB Jake Locker, who has a chance to land in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft (considering he doesn’t leave early).

North Texas Mean Green (1-4) – First of all, who chose the nickname Mean Green? It sounds like a disease. Second of all, this team has made a living in the bottom 10 of college football over the last year or two. They got an early win against Ball State, another team that's battling for the worst team in football. Unlike the Illini, they got some more cupcakes coming up in their schedule (Western Kentucky and Florida Atlantic). Dating back to the 2006 season, this team is 7-34. This year, watch them win more games than the “Fighting” Illini.

Those are just some teams that stuck out to me. I never thought at this point of the season I’d be blogging more about Idaho than Illinois. Oh well I guess….

Its Monday, so that means tonight is the “Monday Night Sim”. Illinois will probably kill the Hoosiers because the game doesn’t factor in underachieving. I will once again have the results from the sim up here tomorrow, and I will also update the standings in our little prediction game. Should be a bit of a mix up since some of you thought Illinois would win. What were you thinking? Just kidding.

Here’s today’s First Word with Ron Zook on News Talk 1400 WDWS if you’d like to listen.

Talk to you guys tomorrow.

I-L-L…