Illinois finally jumped back into the national rankings, coming at No. 25, but the Illini may fall right back out of them come next week.
The Illini dropped a non-conference midweek game versus Valparaiso on Tuesday night, 11-7, which snapped Illinois’ five-game winning streak. The Crusaders entered the matchup with an 11-19 record, far worse than the 19-16 Grand Canyon team coming to Illinois Field this weekend.
“We had no intensity and played poorly from the start,” said Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb of the Valparaiso game. “It was just one thing after another where the guys didn’t have their head in the game.