It's not that delusional. A Hawaii loss is the big obstacle now. There's other obstacles besides that. First, Illinois has to climb 5 spots to even be considered. Even if they do climb the 5 spots, how are they going to get picked over the other teams in the top 14? There are a lot of traditional national powerhouses up there. I don't see any way that Illinois gets picked over teams such as USC, Florida, Texas, WV (if they lose to UConn), LSU (if they lose to Georgia in the SEC title game), or the 2 losers of the Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma triad. There's simply no way that Illinois even gets close to making a BCS game unless tons of teams start losing in their last game. As a Notre Dame guy you should know the 2 teams max per conference rule. That's 2 teams from the SEC, Pac 10, and Big 12. Ohio St., West Virginia, and whatever piece of crap team the ACC sends. That leaves 1 spot open with the teams in the mix being Hawaii, Boise St., and the 2nd teams from the Big 10, Big East, and ACC. In the ACC you have Clemson playing BC tonight to see who wins their division, and Virginia playing VA Tech to see who wins that division. The winners of those games play each other to see who wins the ACC. The loser of the championship would probably slot in behind Illinois to be chosen. In the Big East you have West Virginia playing UConn for the title next week. UConn sucks. In the Big Ten you have Illinois. Hawaii plays Boise next week. If Hawaii wins, they're in. If Boise wins they have a chance, though they might have trouble cracking the top 16. With a Hawaii loss it'll probably come down to Boise vs. Illinois(If Boise qualifies). There's an outside chance of the loser of the ACC title game, but I really doubt it. It would definitely have to be BC or VA Tech. Nobody cares about seeing Virginia or Clemson in a BCS game. One added note of importance, if Florida gets selected for a BCS game, and Hawaii loses, I see no way it's not Illinois. I have a hard time Illinois not going with a Hawaii loss anyway, but there's no way they pass on Zook/Florida. EDIT: There's pretty much no way Illinois finishes outside of the top 14.