Ryllini
- Lombard
We need to have a major home field environment for our conference home schedule.Anybody else see 10 wins?
Future Schedules
- Status
I'm assuming the QB situation works itself out.
Mostly I'm just happy to look at an upcoming schedule and not have to look for a path to scrap our way to six wins.
9 wins very possibleAnybody else see 10 wins?
10 very maybe
depends on who is slinging the rock
Definitely, but other than Oregon I wouldn't say any of the home games are scary.
The other unknown variable is turnover among our opponents, especially in the NIL/portal era.
Ryllini
- Lombard
With what this program is now, I agree, but you know Iowa is a bloodbath, Nebraska has talent, you said it either Oregon, and Purdue will/should be incrementally better. Nebraska and Iowa are games that could make our home slate go sideways quick. I love our road games. I see a decent path to 4-1 there.
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
Time to get back to owning the Shoe like we did in the late 80's pretty much thru 2001.
Good luck with that
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
That crappy dome though.
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
It was a reference for the old timers. Between 88 & 01 we beat them at their place we were 6-2. Including a couple kinda beatdowns. In 1999, we had a 34-6 lead on them in the 3rd quarter. AT THE SHOE. The younger set would never believe it. And I wouldn't either if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
I was gonna bag on you until I saw the asterisk. Ole RG was the worst AD perhaps in all of D1. So many small minded types thought he was great but he sucked at all the big stuff.
Horrible football scheduling, mostly awful football coaching hires and the Weber hire, while great early, ultimately led to the demise of our hoops program for a solid decade plus. He also botched the Chicago radio thing when we left the Score & he elected to replace them with a barely audible AM station based in Fred's garage in the loop. No shame in leaving the Score, but you got to replace them with a WGN, WBBM or WMVP type of station. Admittedly this isn't as big of a deal these days of streaming & we did go to WLS at some point where we still are today.
Not to mention he was the chief of the University of East Central IL mindset that plagued our athletic department for a long long time. Behind the curve vs the rest of the conference on facilities, coaches salaries and most every metric during his tenure.
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- Batavia
8-10 wins feels very possible, but I think the truth is we have no idea what the final rosters will look like. Nothing should be assumed other than perhaps a floor at 4-5 wins and a ceiling at 10 wins. I have plenty of confidence in the program, but I can’t help but wait to see what it looks like to lose the best Illinois quarterback of my lifetime.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
The inclusion of the years and the asterisk were quite intentional, to save everyone from three pages of writing and reading about how 'things are different now'. They are, and I think 90+% of us already agree on that.
I'm an old timer as well, I was there for all of it, God bless Dana Howard, John Cooper, Kirk Herbstreit and everyone else who made it happen. I'm here for it again but I've only got so many years left.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Yep, this part is such a bummer. I wish so badly the Rams had had an outdoor stadium. As someone who’s never bought into the outrage of playing football at a baseball stadium, I’d definitely support a game at Busch (with the vibe of Ballpark Village all around) before that dome.That crappy dome though.
I see 9-3 as the best case scenario.
BZuppke
- Plainfield
Appropriate to thank Cooper. Like his protege Zook, great recruiter and so so in game coach.
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
9-3 is the new 6-6.
I dont want anything to do with playing football in September in any dome anywhere. its sacreligousThat crappy dome though.
the game really needs to be in September tho, although Im not 100% solid on that conviction. I could be talked into a Nov game, but then realize you wont get more than 50,000 in there
but the Cards will never let the place be converted for a football game before 11/15 & I dont want to play Mizzou that late
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
Don't forget Earle Bruce.
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
To rev up for the OSU game a few weeks back I was watching youtube clips of old OSU vs IL games. Only IL wins of course. I came across a clip from the OSU coaches show after the 1999 game when we laid 46 on them in the Shoe. It was (as Bret would say) "borderline erotic" to hear the host & Cooper talking about Illinois taking a 34-6 lead in the 3rd quarter.
A lot of things would have to go well in the offseason to feel good about 10 wins.
Really see next year as an acceptable "off" year as long as we are competitive, building, and win 7-8 games. Getting to 9 would be fantastic.
Then that 2027 schedule... man oh man a lot of spectacular things could happen...
2027 Big Ten Home Games: Indiana, Northwestern, Penn State, UCLA, Wisconsin
2027 Big Ten Road Games: at Michigan, at Minnesota, at Purdue, at USC
Who knows where Cignetti will be by then, good draws on 1/2 of our west coast trips (USC will be tough but beatable), a recovering Penn State (hopefully), and nothing about Michigan scares me anymore.
Really see next year as an acceptable "off" year as long as we are competitive, building, and win 7-8 games. Getting to 9 would be fantastic.
Then that 2027 schedule... man oh man a lot of spectacular things could happen...
2027 Big Ten Home Games: Indiana, Northwestern, Penn State, UCLA, Wisconsin
2027 Big Ten Road Games: at Michigan, at Minnesota, at Purdue, at USC
Who knows where Cignetti will be by then, good draws on 1/2 of our west coast trips (USC will be tough but beatable), a recovering Penn State (hopefully), and nothing about Michigan scares me anymore.
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- Status