We've been discussing the Toledo game off-and-on in this thread and the fear about kicking things off with the best MAC team. I'm still skittish about the game and any win will be satisfying, but I will add the following: Illinois has a bunch of schedule advantages after that game.
(1) One extra day of rest/prep compared to Penn State
(2) FAU has to play Clemson the week before Illinois
(3) Purdue will be playing Illinois in the middle of the toughest part of their schedule. They have @VT, Syracuse, and Wisconsin before Illinois, then @Iowa and Ohio State after. That's a gross schedule.
(4) One extra day of rest/prep compared to Maryland
(5) Wisconsin will be playing Illinois in between Iowa and Ohio State
(6) Get a bye before playing Minnesota
(7) Play Indiana late in the year and after they play @Michigan, Rutgers, @Penn State, & Wisconsin in the previous four weeks. Will Allen still be the head coach?
(8) Northwestern in the last week, as always. Getting Northwestern at the end of the year is going to be finally feel like an advantage after years of fired coaches or no bowl possibility sapping our team's motivation. The roles will (hopefully) be reversed.
Three games with extra rest compared to the opponent, a bye before an important West rival, and playing Indiana and Northwestern late in the year are some valuable schedule boosts.