Can't Wait For Saturday | There is unanimity among AP voters: Illini belong in the Top 25

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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What say the voters about Illinois football this week?

Well, more of them put the team on their ballots. Actually, all 62 members of the Associated Press panel had Bret Bielema's guys somewhere in their Top 25s.

Regular readers of CWFS know I have Illinois ranked No. 19. That is four spots up from last week.

One voter, David Jablonski of the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, has Illinois in his Top 10 at No. 10.

When you rank a team five spots higher or lower than where it actually lands in the poll it is labeled an "extreme pick" by the Web site College Poll Tracker.

Though he is not far from Ohio State in Dayton, Jablonski doesn't prop up the Buckeyes any. He has Ryan Day's team ranked No. 5. I have the Buckeyes at No. 1, but can see both arguments. Ohio State doesn't have a powerhouse win just yet.

After Jablonski, the next-best vote for Illinois is by Jon Wilner of the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, who put it No. 12.

Wilner's ballot is interesting. He kept Nebraska ranked, at No. 15, despite its home loss to Illinois. And he has Utah, which is ranked No. 10, at No. 4. And he has Iowa on his ballot at No. 18.

There is no right or wrong with the AP ballot, only opinion. It would be boring if everyone picked the same way.