In an action-packed Citrus Bowl on Tuesday, Illinois came out with the victory over South Carolina. According to Fighting Illini QB Luke Altmyer, though, they had a little extra motivation heading into the matchup.

Altmyer called out “disrespect” from the Gamecocks before the game. He specifically noted some players were calling Illinois “Syracuse,” which gave the Illini an extra spark heading into an intriguing Big Ten vs. SEC showdown in Orlando.

It’s part of a trend Altmyer noticed for a long time. A Starkville (MS) native who previously played at Ole Miss, he saw the perception of Illinois as a program first-hand.

“It’s Big Ten ball,” Altmyer said after Tuesday’s game. “I’ve been hearing all this talk about ‘SEC, SEC, get in the Playoff,’ things like that. I’m just tired of the disrespect. I think Illinois has been a disrespected program for a long time. I know that because I lived in that area and in that conference. And I don’t think that’s the case anymore.

“I remember a couple days ago, we were at the Fun Spot doing a team activity with the other team, and they were calling us Syracuse. They didn’t know we were playing. Not that we needed any extra motivation, but that was all we needed to hear and we gave them that Big Ten belt.”

Altmyer had a solid day for Illinois, completing 13 of 22 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown, along with an interception. But Josh McCray led the charge for the Fighting Illini with 114 yards and two touchdowns in the running game to help lead the charge.

The story of the game, though, came early in the second half. That’s when Bret Bielema and Shane Beamer exchanged words in a heated moment by the sidelines. Bielema went over to attend to an injured player, but appeared to taunt Beamer and the South Carolina sideline – and that move didn’t sit well with the Gamecocks coach.

“It’s heated and competitive out there, but in all my years of being around football I’ve never seen an opposing head coach come over to the opposing team’s sideline and basically make a gesture towards the opposing head coach,” Beamer said. “And I think he was upset about something that we did on the kickoff return in regards to Juju (McDowell) on the throw-back to Nyck Harbor, but I would say that he needs to check the rulebook, because that’s something that we’ve cleared with the officials before the game.

“Disappointed. I have a lot of respect for him, he’s obviously done this for a long time. But in all my years of coaching I’ve never seen that happen. An opposing coach come over while his player’s hurt and basically have something to say. I’ve got my own team to worry about.”

The South Carolina Gamecocks head into halftime down 7-3 against No. 15 Illinois in a tightly contested battle. While the Gamecocks haven’t struggled to move the ball, they’ve had trouble capitalizing on key opportunities. A prime example came early in the game when they recovered a fumble near the goal line but failed to convert, ultimately punting on the drive. Despite the missed chances, the Gamecocks remain very much in this game.

Team Stats at Halftime:

Gamecocks Player Spotlight:

Quarterback LaNorris Sellers has been steady, completing 13 of 19 passes for 88 yards (4.6 yards per attempt). While he hasn’t thrown for any touchdowns or interceptions, Sellers has also contributed 19 rushing yards. To pull off the upset, South Carolina will need Sellers to elevate his game in the second half and take control of the offense.

The Gamecocks are within striking distance and will look to clean up their execution to flip the script in the final two quarters. This game is far from over.

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Voters for the AP Top 25 poll have spoken, and although the rankings remain the gold standard for most fans in determining the who’s who of college basketball in-season, their merit is dubious – and their ultimate significance unimportant.

So as heartening as it might have been for Illinois fans to see the Illini (9-3, 1-1 Big Ten) move up a few spots in the AP poll this week – to No. 22 – and as annoyed as others might have been to see roughly a half-dozen clubs ranked over the Illini despite less-convincing résumés, the point is moot.

And that’s because the NCAA’s NET rankings are where it’s at.

Viewed through that more scientific, data-influenced lens, the Illini are considered degrees of magnitude better – at least through the first two months and 12 games of the season. Updated through Monday’s games, the NET has Illinois ranked No. 9 in the country – one spot above No. 10 Oregon as the Illini prepare to take on the Ducks in Eugene in their toughest road game to date.

Illinois moved up four spots into the top 10 of the NET rankings, which are calculated daily, and is currently viewed by the formula as the strongest team in the Big Ten. The formula currently considers the Illini to be the strongest team in the conference.

And although the NET rankings finds higher quality at the top of other leagues, they recognize the Big Ten’s depth, with a total of seven teams in the top 25 as of Monday – also including No. 13 Maryland, No. 14 UCLA, No. 16 Michigan, No. 23 Ohio State and No. 25 Michigan State.

That bodes well for the Illini’s chances to continue to grow and build a profile through the conference season that can’t be ignored by the NCAA Tournament selection committee (which uses NET as its proprietary and primary tool).

It starts at Oregon (Thursday at 9 p.m. CT, on FS1) but, in theory, won’t end until March 16 – the day of the Big Ten Championship game and NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday.

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