Future Schedules

#4      
Mr. Tibbs
GatorMcKlusky said:
Hope this means we've come to our senses and are pulling out of the Mizzou series!
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I agree we need to cancel that , but obviously nothing in that announcement indicates that .

but they may very well be waiting to announce cancelling the Mizzou series until a new G5 foe is arranged to take their place
 
#7      
Mr. Tibbs
Fighter of the Nightman said:
(And schedule it again if we get good...)
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I liked your comment but its a BIG IF

with the league at 18 now, and likely going to 20 in the next couple years or so , it will mean two MORE really good programs joining,
with the likelihood then of playing FIVE top 20 ranked teams every year

we need 3 non cons we can beat
and I still think the day is coming when we play 10 conferences games if the SEC and Big12 also agree.

the network just isnt paying to see all these non cons vs FCS & lower level G5 teams
 
#9      
Mr. Tibbs
meh

our record playing at Soldier Field is horrendous . and we really don’t draw extremely well there either .
 
#10      
Fighter of the Nightman
OrangeBlue98 said:
If we get good, I'd like a 3-4 year series. One year in Champaign, one year in Columbia, one year in St. Louis. Maybe add a fourth year at Soldier Field.
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In my dream world, I would prefer a 4-year series like this. Champaign, St. Louis, Columbia, St. Louis. I know a lot of fans have very legitimate complaints against (A) ever giving up a home game, (B) playing in what is now a pretty outdated dome in St. Louis or (C) playing in a baseball stadium like Busch. However, I have now had the pleasure of attending Braggin' Rights twice, and I can honestly say that atmosphere is truly special. The only other examples I can even think of in the entire college sports world right now are Texas/Oklahoma in Dallas and Florida/Georgia in Jacksonville. Those are iconic events that none of those programs is looking to get out of for a generic home-and-home because they realize the value that exposure and tradition brings to each side.

I get the hate for overplayed neutral site games, but there is a HUGE difference between randomly having USC and LSU play in Vegas for a cash grab rather than at either iconic stadium and a 50/50 split crowd rivalry game in a city that is arguably a "battleground" for both fan bases involved. An annual Illini/Mizzou series at Busch Stadium in week 2 or week 3 (I think STARTING with this on Labor Day was sort of a disaster...) could turn into quite a hit. Ballpark Village would be a truly special scene before and after the game. It's easy to forget this now because we lost all of the games, but when the Arch Rivalry series first started in St. Louis, it was genuinely some awesome exposure for our program every year. Nationally televised rivalry game that emphasized to the college football world that Illinois football played regularly in a relevant rivalry.

Maybe there just is no way to replicate Braggin' Rights for football for a variety of factors ... I'm sympathetic to that argument, honestly, and I'd settle for home-and-home. However, I'm optimistic and maybe naïve enough to try, because who wouldn't want a Texas/Oklahoma or Florida/Georgia style party to attend every year if we actually felt like we had a program capable of winning 50% of those big games??
 
#11      
EyeoftheIllini
I’m not sure how many hold on to the notion that Illinois isn’t a basketball school first and foremost, but the call to cancel the Missouri series in football pretty much seals it I think. Marquee matchups in bball are celebrated and greatly anticipated. That was still the case during the Groce and early BU years. In football, not so much it appears. And yes, I understand the implications on postseason play are much greater in football not to mention potential impact on recruiting. Still sad to me.
 
#12      
Illini in Italy
EyeoftheIllini said:
I’m not sure how many hold on to the notion that Illinois isn’t a basketball school first and foremost, but the call to cancel the Missouri series in football pretty much seals it I think. Marquee matchups in bball are celebrated and greatly anticipated. That was still the case during the Groce and early BU years. In football, not so much it appears. And yes, I understand the implications on postseason play are much greater in football not to mention potential impact on recruiting. Still sad to me.
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I've been hating on MIZNOZ since they ruined our perfect season back in '83. Well, there was the Rose Bowl beat down after that, but in my little world if we'd beating MIZNOZ we would have beat UCLA. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!

Golden Girls Rose GIF by TV Land
 
#13      
Mr. Tibbs
EyeoftheIllini said:
I’m not sure how many hold on to the notion that Illinois isn’t a basketball school first and foremost, but the call to cancel the Missouri series in football pretty much seals it I think. Marquee matchups in bball are celebrated and greatly anticipated. That was still the case during the Groce and early BU years. In football, not so much it appears. And yes, I understand the implications on postseason play are much greater in football not to mention potential impact on recruiting. Still sad to me.
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it’s 100% about giving the team a decent chance to win at least 6 games .
with the tough conference schedule every year , playing a SEC team in the non-con that historically beats us , is a huge mistake .

we are more than a few years away from getting into that arrangement , if ever .
too many undecided factored with future expansion right now
 
#14      
Dan
I'm fine with the Missouri series, just have issue with the 1-year overlap in 2026 with the conclusion of the Duke series & the start of the Missouri series. Imho, Illinois Football doesn't need to be playing multiple power non-conference teams in a single regular season ever again.

Anyways, I found the official Future Schedules page on fightingillini.com, it appears to be up-to-date fyi-
https://fightingillini.com/sports/2015/6/24/football_futureschedules.aspx
fightingillini.com

Football Future Schedules

Football Future Schedules
fightingillini.com fightingillini.com

Brief history of current/future power non-conference series-

Kansas series (away 2023, home 2024) - announced in January 2014, setup by former AD Mike Thomas.

Duke series (away 2025, home 2026) - announced in June 2015, setup by former AD Mike Thomas.

Missouri 4-game series (home 2026 & 2028, away 2027 & 2029) - announced in November 2017, setup by AD Josh Whitman.

Missouri 4-game extension (home 2032 & 2034, away 2033 & 2035) - announced in March 2020, setup by AD Josh Whitman.
 
#15      
mhuml32
Dan said:
I'm fine with the Missouri series, just have issue with the 1-year overlap in 2026 with the conclusion of the Duke series & the start of the Missouri series.
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Bingo. This has been a known problem for a long time. Just work with Duke to postpone that home game until 2030. I'm sure Duke would be very content with that, they can schedule another home game for Diaz's third season.
 
#16      
Dan
Dan said:
just have issue with the 1-year overlap in 2026 with the conclusion of the Duke series & the start of the Missouri series
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After further review, I've changed my mind and am okay with the 2026 Duke-Missouri overlap as long as that sort of thing only happens once every 10 years or so.

The 2026 Duke & Missouri games are both IL home games in September & after Labor Day weekend. Those are going to be appealing home games at good times on the calendar in a year when IL only has 4 Big Ten home games. After looking back at some of the triggering 2000s schedules ('02,'03,'07,'08,'09,'10), the 2026 non-conference schedule isn't that sort of madness at all.

The upcoming Missouri series is historically proper, specifically the 12 home-and-home games from the 1970s, 1980s, & 1990s (5 IL wins, 7 MU wins). Back then IL & MU would play a bunch of Champaign-Columbia games in a row every decade. That old tradition is getting restarted with 4 games in the 2020s, then after a 2-year break, 4 games in the 2030s.

Missouri is Illinois' longest non-conference series, and likewise Illinois is Missouri's longest non-conference series. The series makes sense historically, geographically, and fandom-wise by tapping into the already lively rivalry from the basketball side.

(MISSOURI LEADS 17-7)
1896: ILL 10-0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ St. Louis
1913: ILL 24-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Champaign
1949: MU 27-20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Champaign
1966: MU 21-14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Champaign
1968: MU 44-0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Champaign
1969: MU 37-6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ St. Louis
1975: MU 30-20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Champaign
1976: ILL 31-6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ Columbia
1977: ILL 11-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Champaign
1978: MU 45-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ Columbia
1979: MU 14-6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Champaign
1980: MU 52-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ Columbia
1983: MU 28-18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ Columbia
1984: ILL 30-24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Champaign
1991: MU 23-19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ Columbia
1992: ILL 24-17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Champaign
1993: MU 31-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ Columbia
1994: ILL 42-0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Champaign
2002: MU 33-20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ St. Louis
2003: MU 22-15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ St. Louis
2007: MU 40-34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ St. Louis
2008: MU 52-42 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ St. Louis
2009: MU 37-9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ St. Louis
2010: MU 23-13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ St. Louis
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Fun fact- Illinois is 0-6 all time vs the SEC. Thought we had one, but alas that 1913 victory over Kentucky came 19 years before the SEC was formed. Go Illini

at Florida 1967 L 0-14
Mississippi St 1980 L 12-28
Alabama 1982 L 15-21 (Liberty Bowl)
Florida 1988 L 10-14 (All-American Bowl)
LSU 2001 L 34-47 (2002 Sugar Bowl)
Mississippi St 2022 L 10-19 (ReliaQuest Bowl)
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Links-
Future Illinois Schedules
Illinois Football Record Book
Missouri Football Record Book
 
#19      
Illini2010-11
Mr. Tibbs said:
meh

our record playing at Soldier Field is horrendous . and we really don’t draw extremely well there either .
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My biggest issue about scheduling Soldier Field is that it takes away an opportunity at a true home game, where the students can get directly involved.

I am more psyched to seeing a near entire filled orange Memorial Stadium vs Mizzou every other season than seeing a neutral site game. The basketball game in December in St. Louis every year is unique (during break when students are not home, etc.), and with so many other home games, neutral site games are fine. In football, with limited opportunities to easily get to six wins, I do not want to see giving up the opportunity of playing a true home game. I like the Wrigley Field game vs Northwestern much more because it is NW giving up the home game and not us.
 
#20      
Mr. Tibbs
ChiefGritty said:
Fill in 2030 and 2031. Playing a permanent rivalry series against Mizzou is a great idea, just not Week 1 and not in St. Louis.
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the SEC needs to start playing 9 conference games to really balance things out from a ranking standpoint . no more of this crap playing 4 games versus a Sun Belt Conf , Southern Conf school, an AAC and Jacksonville St every year.

in reality , they and B1G schools should be required to play all 3 non cons against FBS schools, with at least 1 , if not 2 , of those 3 being P4
 
#21      
Illini in Italy
ChiefGritty said:
Fill in 2030 and 2031. Playing a permanent rivalry series against Mizzou is a great idea, just not Week 1 and not in St. Louis.
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I still have nightmares of the '83 season starting with the loss to MIZNOZ . . . and ending with the Rose Bowl debacle. Admittedly, there was a LOT of joy in between . . .
 
#22      
redwingillini11
Fighter of the Nightman said:
I know it's just one week and I'm only extrapolating too much without a solid wink ... ;)

... but I bet after last week's results for both teams, Bret isn't exactly shaking in his boots to play in an exciting rivalry game with Mizzou. Maybe we shouldn't either. :cool:
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I certainly like the way you see it. But this traumatized fan probably won’t be able to stomach a matchup against Miznoz until there are zeroes on the clock and a W in the win column. I feel great about the strength of our program, but I still want 3 near auto wins in noncon with how tough the B1G is moving forward.
 
#25      
fuddrules
I know USC and Ole Miss canceled their series due to SEC considering the 9 game schedule in 2026. So they said.

Give me a non-SEC school (Duke, Kansas, etc...home/away), a MAC school (home) and an FCS school (home) per year and call it a day. With the B1G the way it is now, they don't need some super tough non-conference schedule.
 
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