I was just thinking the same! One of my favorite quotes ever.
Illini Football 2023
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Illinois, fresh off bowl trip and 8-win season, has 'unfinished business' as opener draws near
The Illini finished 8-5 in coach Bret Bielema's second year after 10 straight losing seasons, placed second in the Big Ten West, played in a bowl game for the first time since 2019 and had four NFL draft picks. Losing four of the final five games, including the ReliaQuest Bowl against...
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Dan
Admin
Guessing game time for FAU game (Sept. 23rd) will be announced around September 9th-11th.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
No idea, but TV will decide it and I laid out the Big Ten games (i.e., the ones that would be on similar channels as we are) below. Also note that Wisconsin and Purdue play on Friday that week, so they are irrelevant to our game time.
Game Times Decided
11:00 am on [TV TBD]: Rutgers at Michigan
2:30 pm on NBC/Peacock: Maryland at Michigan State
6:30 pm on NBC/Peacock: Ohio State at Notre Dame
6:30 pm on CBS: Iowa at Penn State
It's also worth noting the following:
1. CBS and NBC do not look like they are broadcasting games in the 11:00 am CST slot
2. CBS has "SEC football" in its 2:30 pm CST slot
Remaining Big Ten Games
Florida Atlantic at Illinois
Minnesota at Northwestern
Louisiana Tech at Nebraska
Akron at Indiana
I highly doubt FAU/Illinois is getting picked up by FOX or ESPN, haha. So, at least in theory, these are the slots we could fill:
11:00 am on BTN, FS1 or Peacock
2:30 pm on BTN or FS1
6:30 pm on BTN or FS1
I guess there is a pretty decent chance that ESPN or FOX want to gobble up that Michigan/Rutgers game for the ratings that Michigan delivers, so I would say there are decent odds that that game will not fill one of the three 11:00 am slots above.
So, I guess pure odds without much analysis say that 11:00 am is the single most likely game time. Nebraska draws pretty good ratings and is not currently scheduled to play on BTN once, so I could see BTN wanting them in the 2:30 pm or 6:30 pm slot? Minnesota/Northwestern is the "best game" of the remaining ones, but Minnesota delivers "meh" TV ratings, and NU delivers nothing. We also already play a night game on BTN and a night game on FS1, so I could definitely see FAU being 11:00 am on BTN or FS1.
Was wondering the same thing as I am also bringing my two kids. Nice breakdown!
TentakilRex
- Land O Insects between Quincy-Macomb-Jacksonville
Jacas's attitude (warning: violence and being a scene in a Bayformers film is controversial)
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Thanks, and no problem! I would love to be a fly on the wall when the TV execs are deciding the game times, haha. I think Illinois is a very underrated (by our own fan base) choice for good game slots when our fan base is a bit more reengaged, as we are now ... and I think that the TV guys who have all the data in the world know that, and I predict we will get "better" game times/channels this year.
Last year, we averaged 1.24 million viewers per game, which is probably "below average" for the Big Ten. However, that includes some absolutely doomed TV ratings (159k vs. Virginia on ESPNU and 176k vs. Chattanooga on a Thursday night) ... remove those two, and our average goes up to 1.47 million. Also, after you could tell our team was for real, our ratings went WAY up, including 2.5 million for the Nebraska game and 5.5 million for the Michigan game (one of Michigan's best rated games of the year, so it wasn't just the Michigan fans tuning in!).
All that is to say that while I think our FAU game is likely an 11:00 am on BTN/FS1-type affair, I could see a lot of our other game times (especially vs. Wisconsin nd at Iowa) getting some good slots. Hell, in our first five games, we will get an opportunity to be Big Noon Kickoff on FOX and play in primetime on NBC, so we will see if Illini fans tune in!
Updated Sellout Tracker for Penn State. Still a ways to go in the East Balcony to make it look like a sellout for Big Noon. The jump in estimated tickets sold since my last update is less due to sales momentum and more due to the tickets site making several more rows available for sale, and given the particular rows that were made available for sale, I've concluded several rows that were previously showing as 100% unsold should be flipped to 100% sold out. A lot of this is estimated guessing.
Fun and uninformed W/L for the season:
Toledo @ ILL - Improved QB play by Toledo and a spunky DB group make the first half scary close. Whiteman is seen on the bat phone making emergency calls and Berts nose gets even more red then the first week of training camp. The 3Q opens with bone crushing power blocking by the ILL and the Orange Crush (My new old tag for our O line) becomes a living nightmare for the Rockets. Playing keep away with our run game and our insane front seven make this a sleeper in the 4th. The fans calling for BB's head throw him on their social media shoulders and claim they knew it all along. Toledo 21 ILL 31
ILL at Kansas - Pundits wring their hands wondering if the mojo in ILL was a one season wonder after Toledo. The line gets crazy and ILL start internalizing with phrases like "Us vs. The World" and "You Don't Know Me!". Newton knows that legging out a few sacs of a speedy Daniels sees his draft stock rise and puts the D on his back in the first half. The Orange Crush is moving early and often eating up chunks of yards. Reggie looks sensational. Tip gets two TDs and Elsey Mosses some flunky Big12 DB for our third passing TD. Two more on the ground make this a run away game. ILL 35 Kansas 17
More to follow......
Toledo @ ILL - Improved QB play by Toledo and a spunky DB group make the first half scary close. Whiteman is seen on the bat phone making emergency calls and Berts nose gets even more red then the first week of training camp. The 3Q opens with bone crushing power blocking by the ILL and the Orange Crush (My new old tag for our O line) becomes a living nightmare for the Rockets. Playing keep away with our run game and our insane front seven make this a sleeper in the 4th. The fans calling for BB's head throw him on their social media shoulders and claim they knew it all along. Toledo 21 ILL 31
ILL at Kansas - Pundits wring their hands wondering if the mojo in ILL was a one season wonder after Toledo. The line gets crazy and ILL start internalizing with phrases like "Us vs. The World" and "You Don't Know Me!". Newton knows that legging out a few sacs of a speedy Daniels sees his draft stock rise and puts the D on his back in the first half. The Orange Crush is moving early and often eating up chunks of yards. Reggie looks sensational. Tip gets two TDs and Elsey Mosses some flunky Big12 DB for our third passing TD. Two more on the ground make this a run away game. ILL 35 Kansas 17
More to follow......
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Is it possible to start the season 0-3 and *still* win the west?
BZuppke
- Plainfield
One ESPN writer:
‘What we'll learn about Penn State in September: If the Nittany Lions have a winning quarterback. They have a September slate that includes West Virginia, Delaware and Illinois. It's an ideal lineup for a rookie quarterback to ease into the starting job . . . “
Wonder what the law firm thinks of this?
‘What we'll learn about Penn State in September: If the Nittany Lions have a winning quarterback. They have a September slate that includes West Virginia, Delaware and Illinois. It's an ideal lineup for a rookie quarterback to ease into the starting job . . . “
Wonder what the law firm thinks of this?
the national
- the Front Range
That’s hilariously lame and lazy. Why cant these writers actually do thier job?One ESPN writer:
‘What we'll learn about Penn State in September: If the Nittany Lions have a winning quarterback. They have a September slate that includes West Virginia, Delaware and Illinois. It's an ideal lineup for a rookie quarterback to ease into the starting job . . . “
Wonder what the law firm thinks of this?
MARCHING ILLINI! GOOSEBUMPS! CHIEEEEEF!
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College football's top 100 players for 2023
35. Jer'Zhan Newton
DL, Illinois, juniorNotable 2022 stats: 59 tackles (28 solo), 14 TFLs, 5.5 sacks
2022 ranking: NR
Newton's 59 tackles (28 solo) placed him tied for third with safety Sydney Brown on Illinois' defense last year. Newton's 14 tackles for loss and 5½ sacks led the team, which was the country's top scoring defense (12.3 PPG). He was an All-Big Ten first-team pick.
Caleb Williams, Brock Bowers, Marvin Harrison Jr. lead college football's top 100 players for 2023
Caleb Williams leads this year's top 100, but who else made the cut?
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Given what passes for "journalism" these days that writer's take on the Illini's strength is Pulitzer-worthy in its depth and perspicacity.
Also... regarding that @Champaign_Room post on whether Purdue should now be considered our biggest football rival: yes, please. I'd like to get back to the point at which the Iowa rivalry is prominent, hypercompetitive, and bitter on the increasingly rare occasions when we'll meet. However, both in basketball and football it always has seemed to me (as a biased engineering alum) that Boiler (Beat)Down should be our priority.
Dan
Admin
Might just get to experience the Peacock network for the Oct. 14th Maryland game
Krombopulos_Michael
- Aurora, Illinois (that’s a suburb of Chicago)
Surprised it’s not bigger news the B1G is adding Cincinnati
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
Someone on Twitter made this type of prediction yesterday.
Part of me says that's absolutely idiotic. Then I think about the way we started our last two seasons and I think it's not so far-fetched.
That being said, if we start 0-3, I am going to be pretty upset. I won't be on here saying don't worry we are still going bowling.
Fornelli has just about the same prediction.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
I have no idea what to expect by mid-September. 0-3 seems a stretch but not impossible given Toledo's apparent strength. It pains me to say this but 1-2 seems, well, not unrealistic. Hope I'm wrong.
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