Can't Wait For Saturday | Illinois gains support in its fourth week ranked in the AP 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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A week after hanging on it to its spot in The Associated Press Top 25 at No. 24, Illinois shored up its support.

One voter, Dylan Sinn of the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal Gazette, put Illinois No. 11 on his ballot. Jon Wilner of the San Jose (Calif,) Mercury News kept Illinois at No. 12.

Koki Riley of the Baton Rouge (La.) Advocate, lists Bret Bielema's team at No. 15.

I joined ESPN's Rece Davis in placing Illinois at No. 16, up a spot from last week on my ballot.

Illinois was listed on 40 of the 63 ballots, an improvement over last week. It was helped by Michigan, Southern California and Louisville losses. It was hurt by another win for Pitt, which moved into the Top 25 for the first time and Texas A&M's upset victory against Missouri.

What will happen in next week's poll? If Illinois beats Purdue at home (it opened as a 19 1/2-point favorite) it will move up, possibly several spots depending on the results elsewhere. Likely back into the Top 20 after a high of No. 19 earlier this season.

Does it matter? Not really. The College Football Playoff committee has the ultimate power as it controls the 12-team field. But it also good to see your favorite team listed on the ESPN crawl.