If Illinois lost on Saturday, they would’ve likely been unranked on Saturday. But a last-second win over USC sent the Illini to No. 22 in the AP poll. Bret Bielema’s group has been ranked every week this season, and hasn’t been unranked since Week 12 of last season. Pretty impressive for this group.

Illinois’ nail-biter win over USC earned a one-spot jump in the AP Top 25. Ohio State remains the overall top team, with Oregon jumping four spots to second after a win over Penn State, who consequently fell four spots to sixth.

(This story was updated to add new information.) This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Updating Illinois Fighting Illini rankings in coaches, AP Top 25 polls after bye week

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) — The Illinois football team jumped one spot to #22 in the AP Top 25 after their 34-32 win over then #21 USC . The Illini also moved up one spot to #22 in the US LBM Coaches Poll. USC fell out of both polls following their loss.

Indiana football separated themselves from others in the Big Ten, with their latest blowout win over Illinois.

Can't Wait For Saturday | Illinois picks up support a week after almost falling out of AP poll Bob Asmussen is a college football reporter and columnist for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at 217-393-8248 or [email protected].

Montgomery started the first two games of his career last season during the College Football Playoff at left guard for the eventual National Champions. Montgomery is the full-time starter now and has given up zero sacks and one pressure through three games.

Here is a look at everything that went down in the Big Ten in Week 5. Rankings referenced are from the latest US LBM Coaches Poll going into the week. The top-ranked Buckeyes took a little while to get this game firmly in their favor but managed to pull away on the road against the Huskies.