Illini Football 2023

#201      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
Just a small anecdote about ratings again ... I hate playing Northwestern as our "rivalry week" opponent for so many reasons, lol. Bad attendance no matter where it is played, it does not stir up "rivalry" emotions with many of our fans, etc. I'm resigned to it, but I indeed find it really annoying and this is why I have been in favor of the Arlington Heights option to at least give it some novelty.

Anyway, we averaged just under 1 million viewers per game this year. Last year, we averaged just over 1.2 million viewers per game. I do not have all of the data averaged for previous years (maybe someday!), but it seems like the Northwestern game is always our floor as far as viewership goes, and I would argue it is because NU brings (by far) the smallest fan base in the Big Ten. Win or lose, this does kind of put us at a disadvantage in the final week of the year while some of our rivals are in games like Iowa/Nebraska on Black Friday and Wisconsin/Minnesota. NU ratings by year:

2023: 424k (BTN)
2022: 799k (BTN)
2021: 139k (BTN)
2020: 617k (ESPN2)
2019: 219k (FS1)
2018: N/A
2017: N/A
2016: N/A
2015: 224k (ESPNU)
2014: 252k (ESPNU)

Again ... kinda lame to complain as if we are in any way "above" them after they just beat us at home with bowl eligibility on the line. I acknowledge this, lol. However, I honestly yearn for an alternate universe where Nebraska's misplaced sense of elitism causes them to get a different Black Friday opponent than Iowa, and the Hawkeyes were our final week rivalry. With Iowa's other two rivals (Minnesota and Wisconsin) permanently matched up with each other, it is a damn shame that Iowa and Illinois are not slated as each other's natural rivals. My dream scenario for the last week ... and for fun, each matchup is at the stadium where I find the matchup more appealing, haha:

Penn State at Nebraska (Black Friday)
Iowa at Illinois
Ohio State at Michigan
USC at UCLA
Oregon at Washington
Indiana at Purdue
Wisconsin at Minnesota
Maryland at Michigan State
Northwestern at Rutgers ... bill it as Chicago vs. NYC, I don't care! :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
 
#202      

1m4tr

1m4tr
Cliffmas
1m4tr
ILLINISON1 said:
I think a lot of us follow Illiniboard.com but wanted to post this anyway. All the numbers seem to show this was the most anti bret bielema team yet of his tenure. Long drives, bad field position, turnovers, and poor situational football in the red (yellow) zone. Had to be so frustrating for that guy. Yeah I know all of us, but knowing how much he values all that stuff it must be crushing as a coach. So badly hoping this year was an aberration.

illiniboard.com

What Happened?

Patient's name: 2023 Illini Football Date Of Birth: September 2, 2023 Date Patient Expired: November 25, 2023 Cause of death: To Be Determined Date Autopsy Performed: Pretty much the entire week of November 27, 2023 Autopsy performed by: Dr. Robert
illiniboard.com illiniboard.com
Click to expand...
Wow what an article. Robert is a masterful writer.
 
#207      

Oldskoolkoach

O
Oldskoolkoach
Here are the supposed 4 better DL.... 1000008794.jpg
 
#209      

JSpence

J
Evansville, IN
JSpence
Lazy. HEAVILY stats-driven. Lazy.

1st Team:
#1 DL in sacks (15.5), #2 TFL (21), (+1 INT)
#2 DL in sacks (13), #1 TFL (21.5), (+2 INT)
#5 DL in sacks (12), #1 TFL by yardage
360 lb Sweat

2nd Team:
#6 DL in sacks (11)
NEWTON
OSU's second-best defensive lineman
A smaller dude from Notre Dame

Leonard Taylor III was snubbed... maybe because his stats are thin! I have no idea what the Notre Dame guy did to make the list. Be old? Be a legacy? He's good, but I would take Keith and plenty of others over him. I guess I didn't watch his "good" games, but it's questionable if he's the best DL for the Domers.

As for leaning on stats, quality of opponent seems to have been a non-factor. One of these players is from James Madison. JMU has three players among the top six national leaders of tackle-for-loss. Among linemen, that's three of the top FOUR.
 
#216      

alamocityillini

alamocityillini
San Antonio
alamocityillini
#222      

JFGsCoffeeMug

JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
Chicago
JFGsCoffeeMug
IlliniCaboose said:
Hard for anyone to get unanimous if there's 50 publications putting out AA lists. I say the man's earned a plaque!
Click to expand...
Had to look it up. It looks like the NCAA recognizes five official selectors: Associated Press (AP), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Sporting News (TSN), and the Walter Camp Foundation (WCFF).

Unfortunately, that means the Walter Camp snub is really going to matter. Assuming the other four all recognize him as first-team, it will be the difference between being a consensus and unanimous first-team All-American. Sucks for Newton.

But I'm expecting Whitman to make it right when it comes to plaque time.

EDIT: Consensus is good enough! I forgot Witherspoon was also only first-team for four of the five (AFCA, AP, FWAA, Walter Camp), so we should be good.
 
Last edited:
#224      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
JFGsCoffeeMug said:
Had to look it up. It looks like the NCAA recognizes five official selectors: Associated Press (AP), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Sporting News (TSN), and the Walter Camp Foundation (WCFF).

Unfortunately, that means the Walter Camp snub is really going to matter. Assuming the other four all recognize him as first-team, it will be the difference between being a consensus and unanimous first-team All-American. Sucks for Newton.

But I'm expecting Whitman to make it right when it comes to plaque time.

EDIT: Consensus is good enough! I forgot Witherspoon was also only first-team for four of the five (AFCA, AP, FWAA, Walter Camp), so we should be good.
Click to expand...
Yeah, saw on Twitter just needs 3 of 5