CHAMPAIGN - It isn't easy going from rags to roses.

And yet thanks to a stepping-stone progression for three seasons, Illinois has built a football team that will play Southern California on Jan. 1 in the Rose Bowl.

When he arrived as head coach in December 2004, Ron Zook promised to rebuild the athleticism of the roster and change attitudes that had become too familiar with losing.

"Winning is a habit," Zook said. "Losing is, too."

And so bit by bit, Zook and his coaching staff began chopping into a monumental undertaking. Thanks to the acquisition of key recruits, a gradual but steady learning curve, cooperation and buy-in from existing players and a willingness to "stay the course" and stick with his rebuilding plan, the Illini made progress.

Looking back, there were 10 of those stair-step moments that helped pave the way to Illinois' ascent to the Rose Bowl:

1. Fall, 2005

Zook can probably tell you the exact date and precise time, but sometime that fall he received a call from Chicago Vocational quarterback Isiah "Juice" Williams, letting him know he was committing to Illinois over Ohio State, Tennessee, Penn State and North Carolina.

It was a major coup for Zook, who needed a marquee name to trumpet as he chased after other players. Williams helped break the ice, and before long, others would follow. Very quickly, Williams became the face of an Illini football program that lacked any real positive identity.

2. Oct. 22, 2005

It was the seventh game of Ron Zook's first season, and by the time the smoke settled at Memorial Stadium, Zook would call this the low point of his Illini career. Penn State routed the Illini 63-10, and Zook thanked coach Joe Paterno for not making it worse.

"They took everything but our equipment," Zook said in describing the humiliating defeat.

It was an important moment, however, because Zook came to use this game as a teaching point. He told his team, "This is as bad as it's ever going to get. From this point on, we're going up."

3. Feb. 1, 2006

Verbal commitments aren't worth much until the player puts his signature on an NCAA National Letter of Intent. And when Juice Williams made his commitment official, it signaled a changing of the guard for Illini football. He made his first career start in Game 4 against Iowa, and for the first time, we began seeing how the spread offense would look with a dual-threat quarterback who could run, pass and operate the option.

4. Recruiting goldmine

It was hoped that the arrival of Williams would interest other high-caliber recruits, and that's exactly what happened with the next class when Arrelious Benn of Washington, D.C., shunned a contingent of national suitors in favor of Illinois. Defensive lineman D'Angelo McCray of Florida and linebacker Martez Wilson of Chicago followed.

The quality of the commitments was so startling it brought veiled accusations of wrongdoing that Zook forcefully denied. Illini Director of Athletics Ron Guenther hired a law firm to track down the origin of certain Internet comments, which urged the notion that Illinois must have cheated to get such terrific recruits.

Rather than publicly trumpet the results of that investigation, Guenther and the University of Illinois handled the matter internally among institutions. There have been no such accusations since.

5. Sept. 30, 2006

Illinois was 1-3 when it traveled to East Lansing, Mich., and surprised Michigan State 23-20. It was Zook's first Big Ten Conference victory, and that it came on the road was even more impressive.

It didn't lead to any more victories that season, but it helped cost Michigan State coach John L. Smith his job.

6. Oct. 21, Oct. 28 and Nov. 4, 2006

A string of three games at Penn State, at Wisconsin and at home against No. 1-ranked Ohio State resulted in three Illini losses. But the scores were markedly different than they'd been the previous season, proof that Illinois was closing the gap and becoming competitive.

After bottoming out against Penn State in a 53-point loss in 2005, Illinois had the Nittany Lions on the ropes late in State College, Pa., before losing 26-12. Illinois built a 24-10 halftime lead over Wisconsin before losing 30-24. And a seven-point loss to the Buckeyes showed how much progress was being made.

But Illinois still hadn't learned to win. That would come the following season.

7. Sept. 29, Oct. 6, 2007

In Zook's third season, Illinois decided being competitive was no longer good enough. Victories over No. 21 Penn State and No. 5 Wisconsin proved Illinois had turned a corner. Illinois now had the athletes and the toughness to run with the league's better teams. Rashard Mendenhall was emerging as one of the nation's best running backs, and sellouts at Memorial Stadium were becoming commonplace.

For the first time since 2001, a buzz was building for Illini football.

8. Shock heard round the nation

Illinois was 7-3 when it traveled on Nov. 10 to Columbus, Ohio, and very few gave the Illini a chance against the nation's No. 1-ranked team, Ohio State.

When the Buckeyes drove 76 yards in two plays to open the game with a quickie touchdown, it looked like those doubts might be well-founded. But Illinois answered immediately, and in no time these teams were locked in a tense, nationally televised battle.

Williams' fourth touchdown pass of the day found Decatur's Marques Wilkins, and Illinois held a 28-21 lead with more than eight minutes to play.

Ohio State desperately needed the ball, but Illinois simply would not relinquish it. Williams made four bullish runs that picked up first downs, and Illinois held on to defeat the top-ranked team in the nation. Not bad since Illinois lost 40-2 in Columbus two years earlier.

"We said two years ago that it would be a different story when we came back," Zook said. "I don't want to take anything away from Ohio State, because that is a good, good football team. But we've gotten better. We've made progress."

No kidding. Illinois rang up 400 yards against the No. 1-ranked defense in the country, including 260 rushing yards against a unit that was giving up just 43.5 yards per game in Big Ten play.

The victory garnered national attention for the Illini and pushed the team's confidence to a new level.

9. Nov. 17, 2007

Perhaps you'll say that Illinois' 41-22 victory over Northwestern was nothing special. A team that beat Ohio State should finish the regular season with a home victory over the Wildcats. But this is precisely the kind of game Illinois might have lost in the past.

Instead, the Illini played a steady, convincing game and wrapped up its 9-3 season in good shape for spot in a major bowl game.

10. Dec. 2, 2007

Players gathered around the television when Fox unveiled the BCS bowl lineup. Two days earlier, it looked like Illinois might be headed to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla., for a Jan. 1 game against Florida. But less than 24 hours earlier, No. 1-ranked Missouri lost to Oklahoma, and No. 2-ranked West Virginia lost to Pittsburgh, elevating Big Ten champ Ohio State into the national championship game.

With the Buckeyes pulled from the grasp of the Rose Bowl, Illinois proved to be a nice fit to match against Southern Cal. And when the Illini logo popped up on the TV screen indicating it was Rose Bowl-bound, the players went wild.

"I'm so proud of our players," said Zook, who had orchestrated the season's greatest turnaround in all of Division-I football. "They've never gone to a bowl game, and now they're going to the 'Granddaddy of Them All.' "

Rags to roses, one step at a time.