The Illinois football team will tell you over and over how much team chemistry they have.

But there is one divisive issue on the team, and it doesn't even involve football.

It involves two staunch and unchanging groups — Chicago Cubs fans and the rest of team.

"We always argue about it," said Illinois quarterback Jon Beutjer, a Cubs fan. "Like Carey (Davis) the other night said basically, (the Cubs) weren't going to win. And I told Carey I would call him after they won, and I did. He said, 'They haven't won the World Series yet.'

"It's never enough."

With 15 residents of the St. Louis area on the Illini squad, Beutjer said about half the team are Cubs fans and half are Cardinals fans. That makes for some interesting arguments — and situations — among the Illini players.

"Before the Mizzou game, there was a priest who came to say Mass from Matt (Sinclair's) and my high school," Illini receiver Mark Kornfeld said. "And for the holy water, he had a Cardinals shot glass, and coach (Greg) McMahon said he didn't feel like he'd be able to partake in that."

It has also made for a lot of teasing on the part of the Cubs supporters in the last couple of weeks as the Cubs make an unusual postseason run.

"It's been a tough week for the Cardinals fans," Kornfeld said. "For some reason, I can't come out and publicly admit that I've been pulling for the Cubs a little bit, but it's hard because there's so many people when the Cubs games are on in our apartment, you can hear people from all the apartments around us screaming.

"We like to think the smaller pocket of Cardinals fans can hopefully overcome the Cubs."

A couple of Illini players are also White Sox fans, and they've been having just as much trouble with their Chicago counterparts this week.

"Both my roommates, they're Cubs fans, and I'm taking a beating right now," said Illini safety Marc Jackson. "But the Cardinals fans, they're in the boat with me right now. They're at home now too. Hopefully we can get those Cubs knocked out of there too, and then we'll be alright."

Beutjer has his own opinion on Jackson and his fellow Sox fans.

"A true Sox fan cares only if the Cubs win or lose," Beutjer said. "When the Cubs lose, the Sox fans are happy. When Sammy Sosa strikes out, the Sox fans are happy. But they always look to the Cubs score first. Cubs fans look at the Cubs score first."

Illinois head coach Ron Turner, who is a California native and was pulling for the San Francisco Giants at the beginning of the playoffs, made his own bold predictions about the league championships.

"Cubbies in six," Turner said Wednesday.

Though the recent arguments aren't about football, Beutjer said the Illini could draw some inspiration from teams like the Cubs and the Red Sox, which are making rare October runs. And that's something the Illini squad, which fell to 1-5 last weekend, could use for a turnaround in weeks to come.

"It's not like it can't happen. You watch the Red Sox, and no one thought the Cubs could do anything this year and they're playing the Marlins..." Beutjer said. "There's a lot of great examples in sports right now where teams are getting done and they're going through adversity ... and they're still getting the job done.

"So we just need to fight and say enough is enough."

Corner up for grabs

The starting cornerback position opposite Christian Morton is up in the air this week, Turner said.

Freshman cornerback Alan Ball will miss Saturday's game against Michigan State and could be out three to four weeks with a shoulder sprain that he suffered late in the fourth quarter against Purdue last weekend.

Ball had started two games and recorded 25 tackles, nine against Purdue, in the first half of the season.

Fellow redshirt freshman cornerback Darnell Ray may also miss Saturday's game because of "disciplinary reasons," Turner said. Ray is not practicing with the Illini this week.

"He's not doing anything except going to class and getting study hours," Turner said. "He's still on campus, still on the team. He's just not with us this week."

Sharriff Abdullah, Taman Jordan and even running back Morris Virgil could all see time at the position this week.

"He's still a running back, but we're taking a look at him," Turner said of Virgil. "He played in high school, but he doesn't have much technique. But he's a football player, so we're just taking a look at him."

Ruffin roughs it back

Senior defensive end Jeff Ruffin is back in practice wearing a knee brace this week after missing the Purdue game because of the knee injury incurred against Wisconsin. Ruffin had missed most of last week's practice, but Turner said Monday he should be ready to play by Saturday's game.

They've got spirit...

Turner challenged the Illini coaches and players this week to step up practice intensity after suffering another tough loss last weekend.

The Illini responded with a rough practice on Tuesday.

"We had a spirited practice today, which was good to see. They were challenged. If it wasn't spirited, I would be very, very concerned," Turner said Tuesday. "We've got to keep our composure better, but the defensive scout team was fired up and they were antagonizing and getting after it."

That led to several physical skirmishes among the two squads.

"I let it go a little bit. I'm gonna let it go for a little while and see how far it goes, and then I'll step in and take control," Turner said. "They responded well. We're not going to let them take it too far. We're not going to waste our time, but it's good to see it out here."