The executive director of the Motor City Bowl was the only bowl scout Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Ken Hoffman was rooting for Illinois. But then again, he really wasn’t.
Hoffman was hoping Ohio State would beat Michigan and qualify for his bowl in Pontiac, Mich., thereby knocking Illinois down a notch in the bowl hierarchy.
But when the Wolverines rallied to defeat the Buckeyes 24-17 and Illinois handled Northwestern, Hoffman knew his chances of grabbing the Illini had been drastically reduced. At 7-4, Illinois is likely to wind up in the Micronpc.com Bowl in Miami, which has the sixth guaranteed tie-in with the Big Ten.
Wisconsin is in the Rose Bowl. Other possible scenarios would have Michigan or Michigan State landing in a Bowl Championship Series game and the other going to the Citrus, Penn State and Minnesota splitting the Outback and Alamo Bowl berths and Purdue winding up in the Sun Bowl.
“At 7-4 we open up a lot more options than we had before,” said Illinois coach Ron Turner. “What they are, I don’t know. But hopefully someone will want us.”
Nothing is expected to be decided officially until Dec. 5, when the BCS pairings are announced.
“Illinois has been on our list since they upset Michigan,” said Hoffman. “But now I’m thinking they’re not going to be there because the Big Ten is likely to get two spots in the BCS. Only if the Big 12 and Southeastern Conference receive the two BCS at-large bids will Illinois be available to us.”
Bandwagon leapers: As late as Thursday, Illinois officials were predicting a crowd of 35,000 for Saturday’s game. Spurred by the Illini’s upset of Ohio State and their impending bowl trip, an estimated 6,000 fans bought tickets Friday. With an additional 4,500 walkups Saturday, there were 50,137 fans at Memorial Stadium, the second-largest crowd of the season.
Illini bits: Illinois’ 7-4 record is its best since the 1990 Hall of Fame Bowl team went 8-4. . . . Illinois scored 325 points in the regular season, the second-highest total in school history. Mike White’s 1983 team had 338. . . . Brandon Lloyd set an Illinois freshman receiving record. With 52 yards Saturday, he has 454 this year, eclipsing Ty Douthard’s 406 in 1993. . . . Neil Rackers’ streak of consecutive field goals was snapped at nine when he missed a 42-yarder in the second quarter.
