Will Illini go bowling?

Beat writer Bob Asmussen says 'of course'

Is Illinois out of the BCS? Probably, though a six-game winning streak to end the season would keep them in it.

Is Illinois out of bowl contention? Hardly. Ron Zook’s team needs three more wins. That means Indiana, Iowa and Western Michigan.

Have you seen the Hoosiers play? Not so good. And basketball isn’t going to take the Indiana fans’ minds off of it either.

How about the Hawkeyes? Even with Saturday’s win at Indiana, Iowa is going to have a difficult time reaching bowl eligibility. And that means bye-bye for once beloved coach Kirk Ferentz.

Western Michigan? Yes, the Broncos are an impressive 6-1. But none of the wins are against teams with a winning record. And none of the wins are against teams from BCS conferences. The game will be in sparsely attended Ford Field and should be very winnable for the Illini.

Don’t discount the Illinois chances in the other three games, either. Wisconsin is beyond struggling and has had trouble at home with the Illini in the past.

Illinois beat Ohio State last year in Columbus. The Buckeyes aren’t as good this season, so there is no reason to think the Illini can’t do it again.

And Northwestern showed its true identity while being dominated by Michigan State.

Let’s say Illinois gets to six wins. Is that good enough for a bowl bid? If you’re Indiana, Iowa or Northwestern, no. If you’re Illinois, with all of those television sets and a quarterback everybody knows by his first name alone, yes.

A six-win Illinois team will never be left out of the postseason.

By my count, seven Big Ten teams will be bowl eligible. If two (Penn State and Ohio State), get picked for the BCS, that means the seventh team will play in either the Champs or Insight Bowl.

That will be Illinois.

Unless it wins seven, eight or nine.

Sports editor Jim Rossow says 'not so fast, my friend'

Things I can’t believe I’m saying:

Illinois is a golf school.

It’s the middle of October and I’m out of sun screen.

And Ron Zook’s team, once nationally ranked and considered a Big Ten contender, isn’t going to make a bowl game.

Let’s just hope the Big Ten Network doesn’t can “The Journey” because of it. On second thought, that might be a good thing. Because with everything that’s gone wrong the first six weeks — special teams, injuries, play-calling, special teams, tackling, protecting the passer, special teams — why do I think allowing a camera inside the program is the biggest problem of all?

Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems to be a distraction the size of Grange Rock.

Anyway, I fear the final episode will show Zook telling the team to forget about 2008, when the Illini went from the Top 25 to taking December off. Seriously.

Do the math:

Illinois needs to win three more games to become bowl eligible. It has two more games it should win even if Juice Williams plays left-handed (at home against Indiana, somewhere far away against Western Michigan). The other four games? If they play like they did Saturday, the Illini could lose every one of ’em.

Wisconsin? The Badgers have been as bad as their band recently. But they get the Illini at home.

Iowa? The Hawkeyes have looked like a team playing to save the coach’s job the last two weeks.

Ohio State? The Buckeyes haven’t lost here since 1991.

Northwestern? The Illini haven’t won there since 2001.

I have Illinois finishing 5-7, “The Journey” moving on to cover the Gophers and Zook petitioning the NCAA to start spring drills Jan. 1. Oh, and Mike Small’s golf team winning an NCAA title.

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