Illinois to face No. 1 Oregon in first game vs. top-ranked opponent in 17 years

Illinois is bowl-eligible and hungry for more after a 21-7 win over Michigan Saturday, and they’ll get their toughest test yet when they face Oregon in Eugene.

The Illini, now 6-1 with victories over three ranked teams so far this season, will get the honor of taking on the No. 1 team in America after Oregon ascended to the top of the Associated Press’ Top-25 rankings on Sunday.

The Ducks haven’t reached No. 1 in the rankings since 2012, and will mark just their ninth week atop the list in school history, according to USA Today.

As for the Illini, they too will be ranked as they climbed to No. 20 following their win over the Wolverines. They climbed two spots thanks to that win, with Michigan dropping out of the top-25 completely following their third loss of the season.

Illinois and Tennessee are the only teams in the country with three wins over ranked opponents, with Illinois having also defeated Kansas and Nebraska earlier in the season.

More importantly, Saturday’s game will be Illinois’ first battle against a No. 1-ranked opponent since 2007, when they defeated Ohio State 28-21 en route to a berth in the Rose Bowl.

Since 1950, Illinois is 3-9 when facing the top-ranked team in the country, losing nine consecutive games between 1966 and 2006, according to College Football Reference.

Most of those games were against Ohio State, with the Illini holding a 2-6 record against top-ranked Buckeye squads. They are also 1-1 against Michigan State and 0-1 against USC in games against the No. 1 team in the land.

As for Illinois’ history against the Ducks, this will mark the fourth time the teams have played against one another, and the first since Oregon joined the Big Ten this season. The teams split two matchups in Champaign in 1970 and 1993, with Oregon beating Illinois 34-31 the last times the squads met in Eugene in 1995.

Kickoff for Saturday’s game is set for 2:30 p.m. CT, and the contest will air on CBS.