I’m thankful for this season

Let’s not sugarcoat it: Illinois didn’t do its job down the stretch, and the Illini now won’t get another shot at Michigan next week in the Big Ten Championship.

That stinks.

And a 41-3 throttling of Northwestern on Saturday at Ryan Field doesn’t change that.

But I think the entire scenario I just laid out — which all happened — would have had most Illini fans ecstatic in August.

I remember driving down I-57 to the Wyoming game in late August. The car conversation focused on, “Do you think we can win today?” and “What will it take to get to six wins?”

Illinois didn’t just beat Wyoming. They manhandled the Cowboys, 38-6.

And Illinois didn’t just get to six wins (on Oct. 15). It got to eight. And…