I think the perception from those in the Chicago metro area is the Illini are an irrelevant downstate doormat. Northwestern's perception is of a local Chicago school that through great coaching is an overachieving underdog. For our Chicago alums, who are essential to improving our attendance, it's important to restore some of their pride in being an Illini and to have bragging rights over the forever downtrodden NU fans. Maybe bs, but I don't think so. Our attendance is bad and Central Illinois can't fill the stadium.
Pregame: Illinois at Iowa, Saturday, November 23rd, 11:00am CT, BTN
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BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
I'll take a (hopefully) CLOSE loss to Iowa and then a pounding of NW as best case in this scenario. Losing close at Iowa is nothing to be ashamed of and pounding NW means we finish strong and with confidence going into a bowl game.
I believe a victory over Iowa and a victory over Northwestern is a possibility. I hope for two wins and a better bowl game.
The program as a whole. Fan perception, player trust in the system, and yes individual recruits.
And more recently, 4* in-state recruits have been picking NW more so than Iowa, including one in the 2020 class according to 24/7. (Although it’s hard to compare since not every recruit has both teams on their short list)
In the past 10 years, Iowa has signed 7 4* recruits and NW has signed 6. (So not much disparity) But 6 of Iowa’s 7 were in the ‘10, ‘11, and ‘12 classes. So more recently, NW has signed more in-state 4*s than Iowa. 6-1 from the 13 class on and 2-1 since Iowa signed Epenesa.
I’d definitely be more concerned about the perception these kids have of us after a loss to NW as the idea that 4 star Illinois recruits won’t play for NW but will play for Iowa has not been true (in recent years anyway).
I would take a loss at Iowa.
Never a loss against NW at home. Unacceptable.
Never a loss against NW at home. Unacceptable.
Great work and research, I thought Iowa was recruiting higher end kids here at a higher clip than that. I appreciate the correction, even if Iowa still recruits the state as a whole stronger than NW which is a tighter niche sign for 18 year olds.
One small piece if advice, however? For this type of discussion, you’ve gone back too far. Anything past a 4 year timeframe, I have found, doesn’t track well. There’s too much fluidity in HS recruiting and due to heavy staff turnover, demographics are ever evolving. Notre Dame, for instance, is recruiting in one particular area it typically never recruits. They struggle to be competitive in that part of the country but have staff members with roots in those areas and are using that to their advantage. We have done the same with a person like Corey Patterson. Going forward, you’ll be better served sticking to a 4 year stretch timeline for good analytics.
Again though, great list. This is twice now you’ve corrected me on this board.
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I don't really agree with this considering states like Iowa, Alabama and Mississippi with relatively low population have two power 5 schools with big stadiums and they tend to fill them.
Iowa probably does recruit our state better than NW. At least it feels that way. But in this narrow example (Illinois 4* recruits) it has recently been different.
Thanks for the tip about recency/relevance. Haha Honestly, I was going to stick to 5 years but didn’t want to seem like I was cherry picking my timeframe. So I went back to 10 to get some more Iowa recruits in. If you keep it to 4 years, I think it’s just 2-1 in favor of NW.
And the 2nd time I’ve corrected you? When was the first?? =P I honestly don’t remember.
Always appreciate your posts Twangers! :thumb:
Northwestern has arguably the smallest power 5 fan base. They just don’t care about sports. I wish people would stop trying to make this a rivalry. It’s not.
I’ll take an Iowa win and NW loss any day.
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
I'd disagree. I hate that NW thinks they can call themselves Chicago's Big Ten Team. I want to crush them every single time.
So I guess you should put me down for preferring two wins over the next two weeks.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Two nitpicks:
1) My short time in Chicago (moved here in August) gives me a different impression. We always compare Chicago’s love for us to, like, Milwaukee’s love for Wisconsin. That’s obviously not the case and never will be ... and that’s because Chicago AIN’T Milwaukee, lol. But doormat? Pshh. We’re easily the most popular team here by numbers; it’s not CLOSE when we’re good.
2) Central Illinois is over 2.4 million people. Downstate as a whole is over 4 million. Size of Nebraska?? 2 million. Iowa? 3 million. Hell, Downstate isn’t that much smaller than Wisconsin... we haven’t filled the stadium because we have stunk! We filled it in 2008 (the last year we had a season after a good season, and attendance always lags), for example.
Iowa and Nebraska have tradition. We don't...and we don't have the population within 100 miles that most schools do. Furthermore, we have a high population of students from overseas that don't know football. Sure, being bad is a major factor but I don't think we can fill the stadium without a major Chicago presence. Not with paying customers.
Agreed, this isn't OSU Michigan. Once we start winning more games, if people want they can be picky and say "we have to beat x school." It'd be pretty lame if people want that game to be NW.
I'm excited for the Iowa game right now, why are we discussing the NW game here?
Fair point. I went down the rabbit hole.
Major factor? It’s THE factor. Were you there for the Michigan game in 2007? That’s an example of what the stadium can be like with some hope. Some good weather should get 45-50k at the NW game with a strong showing against Iowa.
I will bet you whatever you like there will be nowhere near 50000 paying customers in the cold two days after Thanksgiving.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
And that’s not because there are fewer Illini fans in existence than other schools; give us Iowa’s record over the past 20 years, and we outdraw them easily.
The fans will come if we keep winning.
Peace
Back in the day, the Illinois Central RR ran "football special' passenger trains from downtown Chicago to the long siding within walking distance to Memorial Stadium. We won then, and trainloads of fans came to cheer.
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
I doubt it ever happens, but I'd so be on board for that. Start the party in Union Station, carry it down to Grange Grove, then do it again on the way home.
Gee thanks! I just spent almost an hour watching Bishop Bullwinkle videos on YT, lol. He was amazing!
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
There are professional sports teams in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc. We come up with excuses because it's "interesting" ... Illinois (and, yes, Chicago) is not that much different from other places. Different, sure, but the same theory would hold here, as well: have the Illini win ~8 games per year for a sustained period of time, and support throughout the entire state would soar, and we'd sell out Memorial Stadium with ease, probably discussing an expansion.
I’m curious why St. Louis never gets included in the bringing fans in from out of town conversation, especially now with so many St. Louis area players on our team. Is there already a strong traveling contingent coming from the south?
RedRocksIllini
- Morrison, CO
People are paid handsomely to bite heads off chickens in all three of those states. Is that a sport?
BZuppke
- Plainfield
I agree with this for the most part but Chicago is more similar to New York and LA than Minneapolis and Detroit. A strong majority of sports fans in Chicago couldn’t care less about college sports and Illinois in particular. In these other cities there’s a lot more of a homer attitude. Minneapolis doesn’t think of itself as a separate entity but as part of Minnesota.
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