The issue with attendance (both student and general public) has been consistent since circa ~2012- a lack of excitement with the program coupled with poor performances at home. Essentially anytime of late there's been a flicker of positivity with the program, it's quickly extinguished post haste by a bad performance at Memorial Stadium.
The student support is interesting to observe, because there hasn't been anything to latch onto in order to establish & maintain in-person fandom for Illinois Football. A current 4th-yr senior at UIUC could've only witnessed 2 victories vs the B1G at MS. A student doing the 5-year undergrad plan or staying here for grad school might have nice memories from that win over Nebraska way back in 2015.
Still, last year's Homecoming must be highlighted. A team already with 2 losses, including a 63-24 drubbing at home, and this was the student section on Oct 13th-
Kinda challenging to retain those fans when you suffer a 29-7 halftime deficit but I digress
So now post-emu, what little interest is left with the fanbase..¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It is the first Saturday night B1G game at MS in 6 years, perhaps the fans will forget everything from the past x-number of years and drop by the stadium this weekend. Go Illini
Illinois Football home results 2016-present (8-14 overall, 2-11 vs the B1G):
E Michigan_L 34-31
Akron______W 42-3
Iowa_______L 63-0
Minnesota__W 55-31
Purdue_____L 46-7
Penn St____L 63-24
W Illinois_W 24-14
Kent St____W 31-24
N'western__L 42-7
Indiana____L 24-14
Wisconsin__L 24-10
Rutgers____L 35-24
Nebraska___L 28-6
W Kentucky_W 20-7
Ball St____W 24-21
Iowa_______L 28-0
Mich St____W 31-27
Minnesota__L 40-17
Purdue_____L 34-31 OT
W Michigan_L 34-10
N Carolina_L 48-23
Murray St__W 52-3