Will Illinois reach the CFP?

A lot of projections I'm seeing have Illinois finishing around 9-3 or 8-4. However, not a ton of people have actually predicted the Illini to reach the College Football Playoff.

ESPN just dropped its list of 31 teams that could realistically reach the CFP and I was surprised not to see Illinois there. I think the Illini definitely have a favorable schedule, with Ohio State and Oregon being the two hardest. Illinois could absolutely find a way to beat Duke, Nebraska, UCLA and Iowa as well.

Here's the link to the full ESPN story, do you think they got it right?