Our wish for Illinois? A bowl game every year

We all have memories of our favorite teams growing up, some good and some bad. As an Illini football fan, I grew up with with the wild assumption that they went to a bowl game every year.

It all started watching one of my first games, seeing a Jeff George-led Illinois team defeat Virginia in the Citrus Bowl. Then the following year watching them play in the Hall of Fame Bowl, followed by the John Hancock Bowl, the Holiday Bowl (which I attended), and the Liberty Bowl. I thought, Great, Illinois goes to a bowl game every year.

RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports

Then reality set in, as the team would not make it back to a bowl for six years when Kurt Kittner led the team to the MicronPC.com Bowl. I then realized there was a reason why my dad and I stopped traveling to Champaign from Wyoming every fall to watch a game — the team wasn’t very good.

Bowl games are always…