Illini Football 2017

#1      

mhuml32

mhuml32
Cincinnati, OH
mhuml32
Tickets
https://ev11.evenue.net/cgi-bin/nco...ease6.28.17&utm_campaign=F17SingleGameTickets



2017 Illini Football
Sat, Sep 02___Ball State_______________11:00am CT, BTN
Sat, Sep 09___Western Kentucky_________7:00pm CT, BTN
Fri, Sep 15___@South Florida___________6:00pm CT, ESPN
______________---bye---
Fri, Sep 29___Nebraska_________________7:00pm CT, FS1
Sat, Oct 07___@Iowa____________________11:00am CT
Sat, Oct 14___Rutgers__________________
Sat, Oct 21___@Minnesota_______________2:30pm or 3:00pm CT
Sat, Oct 28___Wisconsin (Homecoming)___11:00am CT
Sat, Nov 04___@Purdue__________________
Sat, Nov 11___Indiana__________________
Sat, Nov 18___@Ohio State______________
Sat, Nov 25___Northwestern_____________


Looking ahead to the coaching turnover and impact on Illinois schedule for 2017, anyone know how good WKU and/or USF are supposed to be next year?

Would be a huge windfall if either one of those teams will significantly suffer from the coaching turnover.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
#2      

cmore

C
cmore
mhuml32 said:
Looking ahead to the coaching turnover and impact on Illinois schedule for 2017, anyone know how good WKU and/or USF are supposed to be next year?

Would be a huge windfall if either one of those teams will significantly suffer from the coaching turnover.
Click to expand...

We need this coaching turnover to slow their progress. They are both better than us.
 
#3      

IlliniRunIn07

IlliniRunIn07
Tampa, FL
IlliniRunIn07
mhuml32 said:
Looking ahead to the coaching turnover and impact on Illinois schedule for 2017, anyone know how good WKU and/or USF are supposed to be next year?

Would be a huge windfall if either one of those teams will significantly suffer from the coaching turnover.
Click to expand...

I will be shocked if we beat USF next year, even with a 1st year coach. I can't really comment on WKU.
 
#5      

2ndGenIllini

2
Chambana
2ndGenIllini
USF is expected to have most of their roster back and is expected to be very strong. I'm going to count it as a loss for now.
 
#6      

DCOrange

DCOrange
DCOrange
WKU loses pretty much all of their playmakers including several NFL draft picks. Combine that with losing Jeff Brohm, and I would expect them to take a major step back.
That should be a game that allows our offense to get into a rhythm, which could be very valuable for our success when we get to Big Ten play. Hopefully Lawson can get comfortable enough in our system after the first two games to give us a fighting chance when we go to South Florida.

Go Illini! :illinois:
 
#9      

dgcrow

dgcrow
Kelso, WA
dgcrow
ChiCityIllini said:
I see another season with 3 wins. Ball State, Rutgers, Purdue. WKU could be the 4th depending on who they hire.
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Yeah, Western Kentucky maybe. Also, IF the Illini hope to go to a bowl game, perhaps Indiana and Northwestern, both at home.
 
#13      

IllinoisFanAtFSU

I
IllinoisFanAtFSU
mhuml32 said:
2017 Illini Football
Sat, Sep 02___Ball State W
Sat, Sep 09___Western Kentucky W
Sat, Sep 16___@South Florida L (I will be in attendance!)
Sat, Sep 23___---bye---
Fri, Sep 29___Nebraska L (close game)
Sat, Oct 07___@Iowa L (close game)
Sat, Oct 14___Rutgers W
Sat, Oct 21___@Minnesota L (close game)
Sat, Oct 28___Wisconsin (Homecoming) L
Sat, Nov 04___@Purdue W
Sat, Nov 11___Indiana Toss up
Sat, Nov 18___@Ohio State L
Sat, Nov 25___Northwestern Toss up
Click to expand...

My far too early predictions are above. I am assuming a top 40 recruiting class with several freshmen who can contribute early (Carney, Smalling, Oladipo, maybe Boyd, and Thomas if he can get cleared). Also assuming that we are fairly healthy, no more than one key player out for the season.

I think we can win one of the two games I enumerated as toss ups. That puts us at 5-7, a decent improvement heading into year three of Lovie. If we can win both of those or steal one of those three games that I think will be close losses, we're bowling! I see our range being from 4-8 to 6-6.
 
#14      

BlueGuy27

B
BlueGuy27
Deon1987 said:
Records show at all his stops he improved each year 2-3 wins
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Lol...you realize the NFL and NCAA have different rules, right? If we could pay free agents to play for us next year, then this trend may hold true, but we can't.
 
#15      

Deon1987

D
Deon1987
BlueGuy27 said:
Lol...you realize the NFL and NCAA have different rules, right? If we could pay free agents to play for us next year, then this trend may hold true, but we can't.
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These aren't rules.....its just coaching results...transfers and scholarships are the same game as free agency lovie knows that
 
#16      

Ransom Stoddard

Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
Ransom Stoddard
Deon1987 said:
These aren't rules.....its just coaching results...transfers and scholarships are the same game as free agency lovie knows that
Click to expand...

1. They aren't, not even remotely. IIRC, Lovie did not have roster authority with the Bears until several years in.
2. You appear to be using only year 1 to year 2 in your analysis, and he's only had 2 opportunities to do so. In other words, a very small data set, and in both cases he had ownership that was willing to open the checkbook to bring in the talent.
 
#17      

Deon1987

D
Deon1987
Ransom Stoddard said:
1. They aren't, not even remotely. IIRC, Lovie did not have roster authority with the Bears until several years in.
2. You appear to be using only year 1 to year 2 in your analysis, and he's only had 2 opportunities to do so. In other words, a very small data set, and in both cases he had ownership that was willing to open the checkbook to bring in the talent.
Click to expand...

The facts are still there has he regressed after taking over a team???...no

Did he hire the best assistants he could having the a.d open his checkbook up??? Yes
 
#18      

champaignchris

C
champaignchris
You can divide the last 50 years of Illinois football in 2 equal 25 year periods.

From 1967 to 1991, from the Slush Fund scandal until Mac left for Texas, Illinois went 72-50-6 (.586) against Iowa, Minny, Wisc, NW, PU, and MSU. Those 6 schools are historically Illinois' peers. The ones we should be competing against. The ones we should be measuring ourselves against.

From 1992 to 2016, the Guenther and Thomas eras (and since both Smith and Whitman came in midway through the offseason, I'm including 2016) Illinois went 35-80-1 (.306) against those same 6 schools.

Hopefully 2017 can be the start of a new era. Lovie's first whole season with the team. I want to see strides in play, if not necessarily in win loss record. We need to start competing against our peers again, and in a couple years, beating them with regularity.
 
#19      

breadman

B
Herndon, VA
breadman
IlliniRunIn07 said:
I will be shocked if we beat USF next year, even with a 1st year coach. I can't really comment on WKU.
Click to expand...

Let's not forget that intangible of motivation here. USF is in Lawson's home town of Tampa, or whatever suburb of Tampa it is, anywho. He will want to have a very, very god showing in this game in front of family and friends. So, an unexpected source of Illini fans to boot.
 
#20      

BlueGuy27

B
BlueGuy27
breadman said:
Let's not forget that intangible of motivation here. USF is in Lawson's home town of Tampa, or whatever suburb of Tampa it is, anywho. He will want to have a very, very god showing in this game in front of family and friends. So, an unexpected source of Illini fans to boot.
Click to expand...

Tre Watson from Tampa as well.
 
#21      

FeelYourPaign

FeelYourPaign
So Cal
FeelYourPaign
champaignchris said:
You can divide the last 50 years of Illinois football in 2 equal 25 year periods.

From 1967 to 1991, from the Slush Fund scandal until Mac left for Texas, Illinois went 72-50-6 (.586) against Iowa, Minny, Wisc, NW, PU, and MSU. Those 6 schools are historically Illinois' peers. The ones we should be competing against. The ones we should be measuring ourselves against.

From 1992 to 2016, the Guenther and Thomas eras (and since both Smith and Whitman came in midway through the offseason, I'm including 2016) Illinois went 35-80-1 (.306) against those same 6 schools.

Hopefully 2017 can be the start of a new era. Lovie's first whole season with the team. I want to see strides in play, if not necessarily in win loss record. We need to start competing against our peers again, and in a couple years, beating them with regularity.
Click to expand...

That's pretty interesting. Thanks for the summary.
And, Go Lovie !
 
#22      

EJ33

E
San Francisco
EJ33
champaignchris said:
You can divide the last 50 years of Illinois football in 2 equal 25 year periods.

From 1967 to 1991, from the Slush Fund scandal until Mac left for Texas, Illinois went 72-50-6 (.586) against Iowa, Minny, Wisc, NW, PU, and MSU. Those 6 schools are historically Illinois' peers. The ones we should be competing against. The ones we should be measuring ourselves against.

From 1992 to 2016, the Guenther and Thomas eras (and since both Smith and Whitman came in midway through the offseason, I'm including 2016) Illinois went 35-80-1 (.306) against those same 6 schools.

Hopefully 2017 can be the start of a new era. Lovie's first whole season with the team. I want to see strides in play, if not necessarily in win loss record. We need to start competing against our peers again, and in a couple years, beating them with regularity.
Click to expand...

What was the record under just Mike White and Mackovic? I'm guessing closer to 70%...
 
#25      

HoustonIllini

H
Houston, TX
HoustonIllini
MadSeason said:
I did it quick so forgive me if there are mistakes, but it looks like:

49-19-2 (.717)
Click to expand...

I was lucky to start following Illinois football when I moved to Illinois in 1982 after finishing my first 7 years of military service. I was a fan from the minute I stepped on campus as a transfer student, and had the pleasure of watching the beloved :illinois: during the White & Mackovic years, so I thought we ALWAYS had a rich tradition of winning football. Little did I konw . . . Only after I graduated in '85 did I learn of some of the history BMT (Before My Time) and figure out that we actually had a pretty poor winning football tradition. Since then, we've been pretty pathetic :frustrated:

I still love :chief: football, and yearn for the :hailtotheorange: to come back and restore winning to our teams. I've earned to be patient with my kids, and I'll continue to be patient with Lovie.