As others have said, I think that is an outdated claim. Also, it isn't inherent to Illinois; it has to do with who's in charge at any given moment. A school like Iowa State is in a less attractive recruiting footprint, has less money to throw around, arguably worse facilities, a smaller fan base, an even worse history, shares its state with another BCS school (that dominates fandom statewide), has a worse academic reputation, is in a less wealthy conference, has many fewer fans and doesn't enjoy the same media coverage. My point is that if we are THIS bad at Illinois, we are holding ourselves back somehow. And that could, indeed, be the administration, but that doesn't meant it SHOULDN'T be easy to win here (with the right leadership, coaching or administration).