A college football team needs six wins to be "bowl-eligible", and with 35 bowls now played after the regular season, that's 70 teams needed. The Illinois Fighting Illini got that sixth victory by defeating the Northwestern Wildcats at Wrigley Field on Nov. 20, and hoped to make that record a somewhat-respectable 7-5 with a win in their final regular season game.
↵↵Unfortunately, that didn't happen -- in a season filled with upsets by many teams, the Fresno State Bulldogs defeated the Illini in a late-Friday game, 25-23. Fresno State had a fourth-and-one situation with that two-point lead late in the fourth quarter deep in their own territory, decided to go for it, and succeeded, preserving the win. Fresno State finished at 8-4, and three of the losses were to ranked conference rivals Boise State, Nevada and Hawaii.
↵↵The Illini are still likely headed to the Texas Bowl in Houston against Baylor; the game will be played on Dec. 29. We should know all the bowl assignments, including the BCS slots, tomorrow.