Illinois takes the belt, 31–21, at a neutral site over Virginia.
AP poll, week 16: Virginia No. 15 at Illinois No. 11 · No. 1 that week: Penn State. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Illinois took the belt here, ending Virginia’s run of 58 days and 2 defenses (reign #210) and starting reign #211. It lasted 250 days and 0 defenses, until Arizona took it on September 8, 1990.
For Illinois this was its 12th shot at the belt; it had held the belt once before — and it took it back here.
This is the only time Illinois and Virginia have met with the belt on the line.
About this game
Virginia visited Illinois on January 1, 1990, in a postseason matchup played at a neutral site. Illinois won 31-21, taking the College Football Belt from Virginia with the victory.
Written by Claude, strictly from this site’s own record of the game — the score and what it meant for the belt. CFBD doesn’t have a box score for games this old, so nothing here is invented beyond what’s verifiably on file.
Sources Game record: College Football Data (id 56545) · This game in the downloadable dataset