Imrem: Much smaller goals for Northwestern, Illinois

Illinois and Northwestern: Two worlds that college football left behind.

That was the impression last weekend as the Fighting Illini and the Wildcats slapped it out for so-called state supremacy.

The sport is swirling all over America at this time of year.

Elite teams are trying to qualify for the new national playoffs. Lesser teams are firing their coaches in search of a better day. Brent Musburger is breathless over line plunges for first downs.

Meanwhile, maybe you noticed that neither Illinois nor Northwestern will be playing in Saturday night's Big Ten football championship game … much less for a national championship.

Illinois and Northwestern aren't even close enough to being good to fire their coaches in an attempt to reach a loftier level. Attendance at both schools' home games is so low that not even Musburger, an NU grad, would bother plugging Evanston or Champaign into his GPS.

This is disappointing because if you're going to dip your toes into the cesspool that is college football, you might as well try to swim with the sharks.

The funny thing about Illinois beating Northwestern is if the victory really was for state bragging rights, the state is in a lot more trouble than voters thought last month.

The funnier thing is that the best team in the state the past couple years has been Northern Illinois, which beat the Wildcats in September and likely would be favored over Illinois.

That in itself should be disturbing to the Illini and Wildcats considering their formidable advantage in resources over NIU.

So, no, Illinois can't be proud of beating Northwestern, finishing with a 6-6 record to NU's 5-7 and qualifying for some minor bowl game.

Nor can Illinois head coach Tim Beckman - not exactly a favorite of Illini fans anyway - be proud of being barely competent enough over three seasons to retain his job.

Nor can Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald be proud that his program failed to qualify for a bowl game for the second straight season.

Fitzgerald was on a nice little roll of five straight postseason appearances until then, including coaching the Wildcats to their first bowl victory in 64 years.

The question that needs to be asked in Evanston is whether that "nice little roll" represented the upside for Northwestern.

Fitzgerald would respond with a defiant "no." He repeatedly says that Northwestern can contend for national championships.

For now, Pat Fitzgerald's trademark "Go 'Cats!" echoes closer to the bottom of the Big Ten than the top of college football.

Then there are Illinois and Tim Beckman.

At the moment the Illini, who have gone decades with mere spurts of success, can only hope for the "nice little roll" that the Wildcats were on before hitting their heads on a pigskin ceiling complete with stitching.

Illinois' ceiling seems to be as hard and as low as Northwestern's, maybe harder and lower, though Illini fans around the state expect more.

Their delusion is that the right coach can make Illinois football all that they think it should be, failing to acknowledge that Vince Lombardi is dead.

Not that St. Vincent or any other deified coaching name would go near Champaign, which might be why Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas was quick to retain Beckman.

So there you have it: Tim Beckman and Pat Fitzgerald will be back on the sidelines when Illinois and Northwestern meet again.

While the Alabamas and Oregons live in a wider world, the Illini and Wildcats likely still will be chasing NIU for supremacy around here next year.

Heck, invite the Bears and you could have a tidy little four-team state tournament.

Northern Illinois would be only even money to beat them, too.

mimrem@dailyherald.com