The parity of college football came to an unimaginable climax in Week 13, particularly in Big Ten play between the No. 21 Illinois Fighting Illini and Wisconsin Badgers.
In a game between two teams going in completely opposite directions, Bret Bielema's former team, thought to be insurmountable a week ago, upset the No. 21 Illini behind five sacks on quarterback Luke Altmyer and two touchdowns from running back Darrion Dupree to preserve a 27-10 stunner.
And, yes, the Badgers did storm the field.
Just three weeks ago, the Illini were a fringe College Football Playoff team. Now, a mid-tier postseason bowl bid will be all the Fighting Illini can settle for – to the dismay of the fanbase.
Here are some of the instant reactions across social media, making Bielema an easy target.
"Bret Bielema goes back to Madison and gets hammered by a 3-7 Wisconsin team. What a shame," Derick Hutchinson wrote.
"Everything Illinois is bad at got exposed tonight. And let’s also be clear — Bret Bielema didn’t have them ready to go. One of the few true clunkers of his tenure," Mike Wilkening wrote.
"Bret Bielema should issue an apology to the fanbase for paying his former player that had no idea what he was doing to be the coordinator during a 3 year stretch in which the program had much higher aspirations than they ended up with," Andrew Fulk wrote.
Mike Carpenter may have summed it up best, however.
"Bret Bielema's loyalty to Bart Miller and Aaron Henry handicapped any actual chance of a CFP bid. Hold the man at the top accountable. He had the resources and returning personnel for a far better year than this," Carpenter wrote.
Bielema will have an avalanche of questions to answer following this demoralizing defeat. It certainly is one of the lowest points of Bielema's five-year tenure, one that has been rather positive with a program renaissance.
Illinois is going to have to wipe the slate clean next Saturday against a bowl-eligible Northwestern Wildcats team, who won a thriller against Minnesota at Wrigley Field earlier in the day, 38-35.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Fox from Gies Memorial Stadium.