Can't Wait For Saturday | Perfect start bodes well for Illinois, other 3-0s

Greetings from "Can't Wait For Saturday," your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He'll give you his views each day on the game he loves

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There are currently 30 FBS teams sitting at 3-0, including Friday's opponents in Lincoln, Neb., Illinois and Nebraska.

The nice folks at BetArizona.com looked into what became of the 3-0 teams in 2023. Good idea.

Turns out, most of them went bowling. Of the 36, 32 made the postseason. They averaged a final record of 9-4. Fourteen ended up in the final AP Top 25 and three made the four-team College Football Playoff.

Will history repeat? Sure seems likely. While many of the 3-0s are familiar -- Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon, Oklahoma -- there are some surprises too. Cal, Pitt ad BYU are among the surprise teams.

Illinois fits in that category with me and others expecting a loss against Kansas. Nebraska is also on that list given its recent woes.

Often, you don't realize a team is in the middle of a special season until it is two-thirds gone.

Some of the 3-0s play each other this weekend, meaning some guaranteed losses. But some will make it to 4-0 and beyond.