A football team that began the season firmly in the Top 25 conversation is limping along at 2-6.

A perennial NCAA tournament men's basketball program, infused with an exciting class of freshman talent, still is 12 days away from playing a game that actually counts.

What's an excitement-starved University of Illinois sports fan to do?

One option: Jump on the bandwagon currently steamrolling through the college volleyball landscape. Kevin Hambly's sixth-ranked Illini are mowing down opponents, filling seats (they rank ninth in the nation in average home attendance) and building a resume that has fellow coaches wondering just how deep into December they'll still be playing.

Wondering, too, whether this will be the first Illini team in 17 years to reach an NCAA regional final. Even speculating – dare they say it? – on an Illini trip to the Final Four.

"I would not be surprised," St. Louis coach Anne Kordes said. "I think people will potentially count them out when you get to those big, big teams. But I don't think so. I think they have the ability to get it done."

When Kordes says "There's no question this team is better than any Illinois team I've seen there in a long time," her words carry some weight. The Billikens coach was on the UI staff from 1999 to 2003, helping guide the '03 Illini to the Sweet 16. And her nationally ranked program has squared off against Illinois each of the last two seasons, losing both matchups.

"Those (Illini) coaches have their team playing at a really, really high level," Kordes said. "It will be fun to watch them in the postseason. And, yeah, it could be really something special."

And not merely this December, says Minnesota coach Mike Hebert. The former Illini coach also received an up-close-and-personal look at Illinois on Oct. 16 in Champaign. After his then-No. 6 Gophers were swept in three sets, Hebert noted that this junior-led Illinois team has a two-year window to make a major splash in the NCAA tournament.

"With (almost) everybody coming back, next year should be a great year for them," Hebert said. "Are they capable of being in the Final Four? Sure."

Stepping up

You won't hear Final Four talk in the Illini camp. But Hambly and his players are intent, when the time arrives next month, on taking at least one more step in the NCAA tournament after reaching the Sweet 16 in 2008. If they do, that would put Illinois in a regional final – and one win away from the Final Four – for the first time since 1992.

"As a team, we do want to do better than (the Sweet 16)," junior middle blocker Johannah Bangert said. "So that is something we have in the back of our mind of somewhere we would like to be."

It's a goal Hambly discussed with his players on Day 1 of practice – "We've said all along our focus is on December" – and nothing has transpired since to persuade the coach it can't be attained.

"I really like the direction that we're headed," said Hambly, whose team took a 17-3 record and eight-match winning streak into Saturday night's visit to Purdue. "I think we're getting better all the time.

"Yes, I think we have an opportunity to go further (in the tournament), but ... we thought (that) at the beginning of the year. ... Maybe it's (now) confirmed."

If further confirmation were needed, it can be found in the all-important NCAA Rating Percentage Index. In the latest RPI – a computer calculation that puts a premium on strength of schedule and road record – Illinois is No. 4. Of the Illini's three losses to date, two came against teams currently above them in the RPI. The third defeat was to then-No. 23 Michigan State – still the only loss Illinois has suffered on an opponent's home court.

"To play as strong as they have played on the road is impressive," Kordes said.

The Billikens coach thinks the Illini will benefit greatly during the postseason from having gone through the 20-match gauntlet that is the Big Ten race. For years, the conference has widely been regarded as being among the top three in the nation. This year appears to be no different, with four representatives among the top 13 in the AVCA poll and another receiving votes.

You'll get no argument from the Illini that the Big Ten is battle-testing them for the postseason. Of Illinois' first 11 conference matches, six have lasted at least four sets, with three of those going the maximum five sets. When push came to shove in those six matches, the Illini responded by going 5-1 – no small reason they were off to a 9-2 Big Ten start.

"A lot of teams (in the NCAA tournament) dominate their conference," Kordes said, "whereas Illinois, they've been dominating their conference (recordwise), but it hasn't been easy. They play great teams. So they're mentally tough."

Uncommonly experienced, too, for a team with three juniors and a sophomore in its playing rotation. The juniors have started since they were freshmen. And sophomore Michelle Bartsch is in her second year as a starter. All four have played in a Sweet 16 match.

"They have a leg up from an experience standpoint," Kordes said. "It would be different if this was all their first time playing, but they've been around for a while. Those kids are going to have some composure about them that I think can become dangerous in the NCAAs."

A tall tale

Another word that comes up frequently when rival coaches evaluate Illinois is physicality.

When compared to other top-tier teams, an Illini lineup that includes two 5-foot-11 outside hitters and a 6-1 middle blocker simply doesn't stack up in size or in ability to play far above the net. Several of the elite teams have outside hitting tandems that are as tall or taller than Illinois' middle blockers.

"I don't think Illinois is as physical as some of the teams out there," Hebert said. "I know Kevin worries a lot about his two outsides being able to block teams that run a big-time slide (play)."

Hambly acknowledges his team's physical limitations.

"I think we play a physical style for the size of players we have," he said. "We just lack size. We can't change it so we try to figure out ways to overcome it."

As their record attests, it can be overcome. Positioning. Quickness. Hitting and block techniques. Preparation for opponents' tendencies. All are areas that Illinois can and has used to narrow gaps in height, strength and leaping ability.

"If you put your defense in the right spot, I think you can overcome maybe a stronger, more physically talented team," Kordes said.

A lack of height hasn't kept several Illini from ranking among the most productive players in the nation. The 6-1 Bangert led the nation in blocks per set as a sophomore and is doing so again this season. Laura DeBruler, a 5-11 outside hitter, ranked sixth nationally in kills per set in 2008 and is back in the top 10 this year. As a team, Illinois is No. 13 in the nation in blocking.

"They really implement and execute a strategy," Kordes said. "It goes back to coaching and training."

Hambly says any Illini physical shortcomings are more of a concern on defense than on offense. In DeBruler and Kylie McCulley, he has two outsides who might not be able to consistently hit over the block, but each is adept at scoring off blockers' hands.

"I think our two outside hitters are very, very skilled," he said.

It's when his two 5-11 outsides are in the front row that their height can become an issue, as it was against Purdue last month when Illinois scrambled to win in five sets.

"It's mostly on defense, just stopping the opponent and blocking," Hambly said. "That's why we went five with (Purdue) at our place."

A cautionary tale

During his 13-year coaching tenure at Illinois, Hebert guided two teams to the Final Four – in 1987 and '88. Under other circumstances, there might have been a third.

Hebert believes his 1992 Illini were better than the '88 version. Problem was, the 1992 NCAA tournament bracket set up a collision in the regional final between Illinois and a No. 2 Stanford team that would go on to win the national title.

"There were other years where that (Illini) team would have been clearly good enough to go to the Final Four," Hebert said.

It can work the other way, too, he says. In 1988, Illinois expected a showdown in the Midwest Regional final against perennial power Nebraska. Instead, the Cornhuskers were upset in the semifinals by Oklahoma. Hebert's team then swept the Sooners to return to the Final Four.

Such scenarios illustrate the impact of matchups and brackets in determining which teams advance to the deepest stages of the NCAA tournament and which don't.

"So it's not just about how good is Illinois," Hebert said. "It's about how good are the teams that they're going to have to contend with."

That's nothing Hambly doesn't already know.

"A lot of that is out of our control," the UI coach said. "We may meet a team that we don't match up very well with – in the second round, the first round – that could cause us a lot of problems.

"(No. 1) Penn State and (No. 2) Texas would be tough to beat in a regional final. Some other teams, depending on the matchup, we might have a chance."

Of course, it's all speculation for now. There still are eight more Big Ten matches on the Illini schedule. Selection Sunday isn't until Nov. 29. Can this Illinois team avoid upsets and stay on pace for a favorable seed? Can it remain injury-free?

"People are always talking about our rankings and what's going to happen in the NCAA tournament," Bangert said. "But we really don't focus on that as a team. ... We're just like 'We'll see as it comes.' "

So take the advice of the nation's most prolific blocker, Illini fans: Just sit back and enjoy the bandwagon ride. Who knows where it could lead this year?

Or next?