The difference is even starker than that. Ohio has 7 metropolitan statistical areas with populations of 500,000 or more: Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Akron, Toledo, and Youngstown. Most of Ohio’s public universities are in or near these major population centers.
Illinois has 2: Chicago with an MSA population of 9.5 million, and the Illinois portion of the St. Louis MSA with a population around 600,000. Places like Rockford, Peoria, and Springfield are pretty rinky-dink in comparison.