So uh, holy shit.
Being an Illinois football fan has always been a massively masochistic exercise in stupidity. That's just a fact. This is a program that has ten winning seasons since I was born. I turn 28 next summer. Don't mention the historical greatness. Don't mention Dike Butkus and Red Grange. Let's talk about the world post-Vietnam. Let's talk about what Illinois football has been since computers stopped being bigger than Buicks.
A joke. A punchline. An afterthought.
Yeah, they've been to two BCS bowl games (and lost both). Yup, they had that wonderful Rose Bowl run in 1983.