Big Ten champ gets little respect, rerouted to Sugar Bowl

Illinois tied a team record with 10 victories, and won its first Big Ten title outright since 1983. It won at Ohio State and beat three ranked teams.

Yet in all the talk about the national championship game -- and there was plenty -- the Illini never even got a mention.

"That's something that makes me a little mad," center Luke Butkus admitted. "But that's something we can't control. We worry about things we can control."

Illinois, 10-1 and No. 7 in the final regular-season poll, is on its way to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, where it will face No. 12 LSU on New Year's Day. It's certainly not a bad trip -- a few days in the Big Easy, a BCS bowl and a spot on prime-time TV.

But consider where the Illini could have been. Most years the Big Ten and Pac-10 champs meet in the Rose Bowl. But as part of the rotating Bowl Championship Series, the Rose Bowl gets the national championship game every fourth year and this is that year.

BCS reshuffles champs

Unless they're in the mix for the national title, the Big Ten and Pac-10 champs then get shuffled off to another bowl.

"It definitely is different, but we knew that coming into the year so that's not a big surprise to us," quarterback Kurt Kittner said. "Like I said, we can't complain."

Oh, but they could. With their only loss coming way back in September, the Illini could argue they should have been higher in the BCS standings that determine the national championship game. After all, Colorado was in the mix despite two losses.

And Nebraska is playing No. 1 Miami in the Rose Bowl even after getting walloped by the Buffaloes in its final game.

"I've been hearing this the last couple of weeks, people complaining they should be in the Rose Bowl, they should be in this bowl," Kittner said. "Why are people complaining? They're in great bowls against great teams. You're dealt what you're dealt. You need to deal with it and make the most of it."

Besides, going into games a little chippy has worked well for Illinois all year.

After going 5-6 last season, no one expected the Illini to really do much this year. Sure, playmaker Brandon Lloyd was back, but Northwestern and Michigan were the heavy preseason favorites to win the Big Ten.

Even after winning their first two games, the Illini were only No. 22. And when they lost to then-No. 17 Michigan in Ann Arbor, they dropped out of the Top 25 and didn't get back in until the third week of October.

"That was the main thing about our whole season, we always had something to prove," Lloyd said. "What's the point of going into a game without something to prove? We're really excited about this."

High stakes

Even if they're not playing for the national championship, there is plenty at stake for Illinois in the Sugar Bowl. While three squads have finished with 10 wins, no Illini team has ever won 11 games.

That would be quite a feat for the 13 fifth-year seniors, who committed to Illinois during a 2-9 season and then went 0-11 their first year.

"Guys that have been here, just the fact we're having the chance to play for an 11-win season and a part of history, that's unbelievable," Butkus said. "We did help this program and we did help bring back the tradition."

Coach Ron Turner agreed.

"They came in during the tough times, went through some of the tough times and kept going," he said. "That's a lesson hopefully they can use the rest of their lives. ... It would obviously mean a lot to all of us, it would be something we would be very proud of.

"We can't get too focused on looking at that," he added. "We've got to keep focused on what we have all year, what got us here."