Just like both Stanford and Vanderbilt, Illinois concluded the year 19-13 and .500 in conference play at 9-9.

The Illini had reeled off a four-game win streak as the season drew near a close but ended up winning just two of its final seven games. That sounds a bit streaky, sure, but Illinois, according to the numbers, was the third-most consistent team in the entire country.

Illinois boasted a strong defense, better than 82 percent of the schools in the country, and its offense, better than 69 percent of schools, was solid, too. However, the even-keeled Illini wound up, appropriately, right in the middle of the Big Ten standings at year's end with its 48th-ranked nERD of 9.08.