Bret and the Illini are so, so close

What an effort by the Illini in Ann Arbor.

Illinois did what very few teams are able to do in college football — they went into the Big House and battled Michigan until the very end.

Unfortunately, they fell just short, 19-17, thanks to a heartbreaking Jake Moody field goal with 9 seconds to play.

As painful as it was to leave empty-handed, this game displayed how far the program has come — and how close they are — to truly breaking through under Bret Bielema.

We saw Illinois lose back-to-back games on its home field. The Big Ten West crown slipped right out of their grasp and their ultimate goals were no longer on track to be met. Turning around the next week and staring down the nation’s…