Illinois has waited 33 years for this moment

Wow. What a breath of contemporary air.

I don’t assume any of our writers would have predicted this.

Going into the season, and I can communicate for all of us, successful one in every of these three video games — Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota — would have gotten us to a bowl recreation. Now there’s a likelihood, once you usher in Nebraska, to go 4-0 towards the quadrangle of hate.

The Illini are sitting at 5-1 and one recreation away from a bowl recreation and October has solely simply begun.

It really is spooky season.

I simply can’t get this tweet of my head:

It acquired me considering. Has it actually been that lengthy?

John Mackovic was in his second season and beat Iowa and Wisconsin in the identical yr, a feat that wasn’t achieved till Saturday, 12,026 days later.

So much has occurred since then. Listed below are my high 33.

The World

33. The Berlin Wall fell on November ninth, 1989.

32. The Soviet Union dissoluted on December twenty sixth 1991.

31. So as, Lithuania, Namibia, Yemen, Georgia, Croatia, Slovenia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Macedonia, Tajikistan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Eritrea, Palau, East Timor, Serbia, Kosovo, and South Sudan all grew to become nations after November 4th, 1989. That’s 28 nations to be actual.

30. The British Empire has had solely 2 monarchs.

Chicago

29. The Sears Tower (it would all the time be the title) was nonetheless the tallest constructing on the planet.

28. The Orange Line opened to Halfway Airport in 1993.

27. The Chicago Bulls gained all 6 of their NBA Championships.

26. The Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs each broke MLB-leading World Collection droughts, the Sox in 2005 and the Cubs in 2016.

25. The Chicago Hearth and Chicago Sky weren’t based but.

Leisure

24. The Recreation Boy was launched into the North American market in July of 1989.

23. John Madden Soccer was launched for the Sega Genesis in December of 1990.

22. The highest tune on the Billboard High 100 for the week of November 4th, 1989 was Hearken to Your Hear by Roxette.

21. Ask Jeeves was launched on the web on June third, 1989.

Faculty Soccer

20. NBC did not begin broadcasting Notre Dame’s video games till 1991.

19. Invoice Curry was nonetheless the Head Coach at Alabama, They’d undergo 4 extra coaches till Nick Saban was employed.

18. The Huge 8 had 8 groups, the Huge 10 had 10 groups, and the Pac-10 had 10 groups.

17. Texas wasn’t within the Huge 12, Miami and Florida State weren’t within the ACC, and South Carolina wasn’t within the SEC.

16. The Huge East didn’t sponsor soccer till 1991, which means present Huge 10 groups, Penn State and Rutgers, performed as Independents.

15. Alabama performed Auburn for the primary time at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn’s house stadium, on December 2nd, 1989.

The Huge 10

14. In 1990, the Huge 10 added Penn State, creating the worst convention brand identified to man.

13. Since Michigan beat Seton Corridor in 1989, just one workforce from the Huge Ten has gained 1 nationwide championship recreation, failing in 9 of their 10 makes an attempt.

12. The Barry Alvarez period of Wisconsin soccer began in 1990.

11. The Kirk Ferentz period of Iowa soccer began in 2004.

10. The Huge 10 convention solely began its championship recreation in 2011. Since then 8 groups have made the championship recreation. Ohio State leads the east with 6 entries. Wisconsin leads the west, additionally with 6 entries.

Out of the West, solely Wisconsin, Iowa, and Northwestern have made it to the Championship recreation. Within the final 12 months, Illinois has overwhelmed all 3 of these groups.

Illinois Soccer since 1989

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Picture by Bernstein Associates/Getty Photographs

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9. Illinois has gone 156-229-2 total and 87-175-2 within the Huge Ten.

8. Illinois has had 9 successful seasons, 7 head coaches, and 12 bowl appearances within the final 33 years.

7. Illinois has ended the season ranked 4 instances because the 1989 season

6. Illinois has overwhelmed Wisconsin 8 instances since 1989, together with a streak of 4 video games between 1989 and 1992. Wisconsin nonetheless holds the file at 44-39-7.

5. Illinois has overwhelmed Iowa 7 instances since 1989, together with a streak of three video games between 1993 and 1995. Illinois now holds the file at 39-37-2.

4. Illinois has had 2 quarterbacks go to the NFL since 1989, Jeff George in 1990, and Kurt Kittner in 2002.

3. Illinois has claimed 2 convention titles since 1989: 1990 and 2001.

2. For the primary time since 2011, Illinois has had a coach with consecutive 5-win seasons. John Mackovic and Lou Tepper had a 5+ win streak from 1988 to 1995. Since then it has occurred 3 instances. Ron Turner from 1999 to 2002 and Ron Zook from 2007-8 and 2010-11. Earlier than Ron Zook’s consecutive 6+ win seasons, Illinois hadn’t had consecutive seasons with the identical coach and 6+ wins since John Mackovic gained 6+ video games between 1988 and 1991.

1. For the primary time in 33 years. Illinois beat each Iowa and Wisconsin. If Illinois beats Minnesota this week, Illinois can have overwhelmed these three groups for the primary time since 1983.

This workforce is magical.

I-L-L