Illini Football 2025

[Dan]

2025 Illini Football

Sat, Aug 30____Western Illinois
Sat, Sept 6____at Duke
Sat, Sept 13___Western Michigan
Sat, Sept 20___at Indiana
Sat, Sept 27___USC (Homecoming)
Sat, Oct 4_____at Purdue
Sat, Oct 11____Ohio State
Sat, Oct 18____---bye---
Sat, Oct 25____at Washington
Sat, Nov 1_____Rutgers
Sat, Nov 8_____---bye---
Sat, Nov 15____Maryland
Sat, Nov 22____at Wisconsin
Sat, Nov 29____Northwestern

 

[MoCoMdIllini]

 

[OrangeBlue98]

 

[spotter]

 

[spotter]

Just keep them all on Saturday. No Friday nights, please.

 

[Illini92and96]

If that isn't a favorable schedule I don't know what is.

 

[GMAN55]

Just keep them all on Saturday. No Friday nights, please.

Hey Spotter, what bothers you about Friday night games.

 

[OrangeBlue98]

Just keep them all on Saturday. No Friday nights, please.

I wouldn't mind the opener being on a Thursday night again. Gives Illinois a couple of additional days before making their first road trip of the season.

 

[spotter]

Hey Spotter, what bothers you about Friday night games.

I'm a high school football referee. I'm busy Friday nights and I can't do my job in the booth on Friday nights. Plus, philosophically I think Friday nights should be reserved for high school sports.

 

[Epsilon]

Saw this article that rated Bielema as the number 4 best coach in the B1G. Just curious what y’all think. Also curious where you all think we stand as a coaching staff overall?

Power ranking all 18 Big Ten head football coaches after 2024 season

With the 2024 college football season in the books, here are our full Big Ten head football coach rankings.

badgerswire.usatoday.com

 

[Illini92and96]

Saw this article that rated Bielema as the number 4 best coach in the B1G. Just curious what y’all think. Also curious where you all think we stand as a coaching staff overall?

Power ranking all 18 Big Ten head football coaches after 2024 season

With the 2024 college football season in the books, here are our full Big Ten head football coach rankings.

badgerswire.usatoday.com

I concur with it, especially when you take "coach" to encapsulate building a program, and not just the on-field coaching piece. Our performance the last couple years compared to our historical relevance is impressive and not something other coaches have been able to sustain. I can't see us falling back to a 2-10, 3-9, etc. like we have after some of our successful seasons the last 25 years. Bret has brough a stability and consistency to the success.

 

[chibar]

interesting Friday night game discussion. Selfishly I have not cared as I do not watch high school football. But now I'm thinking that if the HS students you are recruiting are playing, that means they are missing the games and when they tune in on Saturday they don't see Illinois on tv

 

[SixthandWhite]

I don't hate Friday road games (feels like the weekend comes sooner and frees up Saturday time), but I definitely dislike weekday home games. Tanks attendance, tampers enthusiasm, people leave early, etc.

 

[GMAN55]

Does our transfer O lineman have a real chance to take a starting position ?

 

[GMAN55]

Offense or defense, which side will make the biggest advancement for the 25 season ? Why?

 

[lstewart53x3]

Final 2024-2025 KFord Ratings:

Sat, Aug 30____Western Illinois: FCS
Sat, Sept 6____at Duke: 58
Sat, Sept 13___Western Michigan: 105
Sat, Sept 20___at Indiana: 9
Sat, Sept 27___USC: 17
Sat, Oct 4_____at Purdue: 121
Sat, Oct 11____Ohio State: 1
Sat, Oct 18____---bye---
Sat, Oct 25____at Washington: 45
Sat, Nov 1_____Rutgers: 49
Sat, Nov 8_____---bye---
Sat, Nov 15____Maryland: 66
Sat, Nov 22____at Wisconsin: 47
Sat, Nov 29____Northwestern: 82

Illinois: 38

This of course doesn’t take into account graduates, recruiting classes, or the transfer portal, but I see us favored in 8-10 games.

 

[Dkayak]

Illinois: 38

What does 38 mean? Some sort of rank? We’re expected to backslide far out of the top 25, despite returning most of our starters? If so, these numbers simply aren’t credible. Not even our harshest critics expect that.

 

[suburbanILLINI]

Final 2024-2025 KFord Ratings:

Sat, Aug 30____Western Illinois: FCS
Sat, Sept 6____at Duke: 58
Sat, Sept 13___Western Michigan: 105
Sat, Sept 20___at Indiana: 9
Sat, Sept 27___USC: 17
Sat, Oct 4_____at Purdue: 121
Sat, Oct 11____Ohio State: 1
Sat, Oct 18____---bye---
Sat, Oct 25____at Washington: 45
Sat, Nov 1_____Rutgers: 49
Sat, Nov 8_____---bye---
Sat, Nov 15____Maryland: 66
Sat, Nov 22____at Wisconsin: 47
Sat, Nov 29____Northwestern: 82

Illinois: 38

This of course doesn’t take into account graduates, recruiting classes, or the transfer portal, but I see us favored in 8-10 games.

How is USC 17?

 

[GrayGhost77]

Final 2024-2025 KFord Ratings:

Sat, Aug 30____Western Illinois: FCS
Sat, Sept 6____at Duke: 58
Sat, Sept 13___Western Michigan: 105
Sat, Sept 20___at Indiana: 9
Sat, Sept 27___USC: 17
Sat, Oct 4_____at Purdue: 121
Sat, Oct 11____Ohio State: 1
Sat, Oct 18____---bye---
Sat, Oct 25____at Washington: 45
Sat, Nov 1_____Rutgers: 49
Sat, Nov 8_____---bye---
Sat, Nov 15____Maryland: 66
Sat, Nov 22____at Wisconsin: 47
Sat, Nov 29____Northwestern: 82

Illinois: 38

This of course doesn’t take into account graduates, recruiting classes, or the transfer portal, but I see us favored in 8-10 games.

I legitimately can see 10 wins there.

 

[lstewart53x3]

What does 38 mean? Some sort of rank? We’re expected to backslide far out of the top 25, despite returning most of our starters? If so, these numbers simply aren’t credible. Not even our harshest critics expect that.

I might not have made it clear enough in my post, but these were the end of season KFord ratings from this past season, not the preseason ratings for next season. With our returning production, I could see us being in the top 25 preseason, but those ratings aren’t out yet.

 

[lstewart53x3]

How is USC 17?

This graph says it all:

We were 4-1 in one score/overtime games and USC was 3-5. Flip the win percentages and that gives us 2 less wins and USC 3 more wins.

We then go 8-5 and USC goes 10-3.

USC was quite a bit better than their record indicated, and we were slightly worse.

That said—give me the overperfoming team every time.

 

[Dkayak]

I might not have made it clear enough in my post, but these were the end of season KFord ratings from this past season, not the preseason ratings for next season. With our returning production, I could see us being in the top 25 preseason, but those ratings aren’t out yet.

So they ranked us 38th at the end of our 10-3 season. Then how did we even get into the Citrus Bowl, much less win it? What sort of algorithm gets us to 38th at the end of last season? How many weeks were we ranked vs weeks ranked for USC? Are the polls that terribly wrong? Or is KFord’s methodology?

 

[Dkayak]

This graph says it all:

View attachment 39577

We were 4-1 in one score/overtime games and USC was 3-5. Flip the win percentages and that gives us 2 less wins and USC 3 more wins.

We then go 8-5 and USC goes 10-3.

USC was quite a bit better than their record indicated, and we were slightly worse.

That said—give me the overperfoming team every time.

What’s the rationale for flipping the win percentages? We now outperform in tight 4th quarter situations. That’s a pretty consistent performance feature. We don’t collapse like in the past. We toughen up and make the other guys collapse.

 

[MustangWally]

I legitimately can see 10 wins there.

 

[JFGsCoffeeMug]

So they ranked us 38th at the end of our 10-3 season. Then how did we even get into the Citrus Bowl, much less win it? What sort of algorithm gets us to 38th at the end of last season? How many weeks were we ranked vs weeks ranked for USC? Are the polls that terribly wrong? Or is KFord’s methodology?

KFord Ratings

Get the latest college football power ratings and rankings on Kelley Ford Ratings, your go-to source for college football analysis.

kfordratings.com