Dear Terry,
Remember last year at this time?
Illini fans’ fingers hovered over the letters e-x-p-e-d-i-a, waiting to book a trip to Pasadena with hopes of securing a Rose Bowl victory with a victory over Northwestern. Meanwhile, the Wildcats were sweating it out.
Ultimately, Northwestern was left out of the bowl picture and sat at home with a 6-6 record after falling to Illinois in the regular-season finale.
A year later, and it’s the football version of Freaky Friday.
Illinois is analyzing bowl-berth scenarios if it can garner a sixth victory against Northwestern. I’m sure it hopes to avoid the Wildcats’ 2007 fate, when a 6-6 record wasn’t enough.
Northwestern is assured of a bowl bid and just needs to know which warm-weather city will be included in its holiday plans.
Don’t let that fool you, though. The Wildcats are hardly satisfied.
If you don’t believe me, listen to what senior wide receiver Eric Peterman told me this week.
“We’re kind of in a role reversal from last year,” he said. “But we have to stay focused. We came to work like any other week and put our hard hats on.”
The Wildcats will be saluting 23 seniors, including injured linebacker Malcolm Arrington and running back Tyrell Sutton, so there’s no doubt it will be an emotional day.
These seniors can leave quite a legacy too.
A victory will make them only the fifth team in school history to win nine games. Also on the line is a bowl destination.
Bowl representatives prefer teams gathering end-of-season momentum, so a victory can help the Wildcats land a more attractive bowl.
Right now, the Outback Bowl (Jan. 1 in Tampa), Alamo Bowl (Dec. 29 in San Antonio) or Champs Sports Bowl (Dec. 27 in Orlando) are options. The Insight Bowl (Dec. 31 in Tempe, Ariz.) is in the mix too.
I’ll be interested to see how the teams respond Saturday.
Or if Freaky Friday continues.
See you at Ryan Field,
Shannon
