Illinois Fighting Illini (No. 12 in the polls, No. 27 in SP+). The Illini went 5-1 in one-score games and finished 31st in SP+ despite the lofty 10-win season. Major experience should result in further improvement, but if the close-game bounces go the other way, they won't come anywhere close to a top-15 AP finish.

Among the 50 players selected for our two All-America teams, Minnesota safety Koi Perich is the only one whose team didn’t receive a vote in the preseason Associated Press poll — and the Gophers were still solid (8-5 overall and 5-4 in the Big Ten).