need to wait another 100 yrs. keep doing that cardio
Illini Football 2025
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Neither does ESPNs FPI (has us 44th)
2025 College Football Power Index: Best matchups, title odds
Does the SEC remain on top? Will Boise State revisit the CFP? Here's what stands out from ESPN's latest data.
about time we got some bulletin board material...
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
SEC: 3 of the first 4, 8 of top 14 and 11 teams in the top 19? Come on. I know they are your cash cow ESPN, but a little more objectivity would be appreciated.2025 College Football Power Index: Best matchups, title odds
Does the SEC remain on top? Will Boise State revisit the CFP? Here's what stands out from ESPN's latest data.www.espn.com
about time we got some bulletin board material...
yep, and Oklahoma and Florida are both predicted to win 6 and we're still not on it
hmm, maybe ESPN is just accepting and acknowledging bias towards SEC teams and this should really be read as investigative journalism ....?
This is why ESPN is a thing of the past. They really have no clue what is going on in the world2025 College Football Power Index: Best matchups, title odds
Does the SEC remain on top? Will Boise State revisit the CFP? Here's what stands out from ESPN's latest data.
about time we got some bulletin board material...
ive tried to wean myself off but still find the mechanics of their site most familiar for box score checks...
You want to treat all games the same (to avoid Purdue last year), but Duke-Indiana-USC... those three will very much dictate the season.
Go 2-1 (or better) and very likely a playoff team (I'd put my money on 10-2 getting you in more times than not).
1-2 still good for a potential successful season.
0-3 fairly disappointing and will have a losing record through first 7 games.
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Anyone have an outlook on the O-Line? Thanks in advance.
mhuml32
Gesture of Northern Aggression
Indiana is an unknown this year. Cignetti did one of the best first year jobs in CFB history last year. He brought a ton of guys in who made an instant impact. He had a built-in advantage from many of those players being his former JMU players. Indiana is bringing in another large transfer class (23) but none are from JMU.
So far, transfer success hasn't shown to be a consistent business, at least year-to-year. Norvell is showing the extreme swings that occur, but it's still too early to tell if that's natural regression. At worst, it seems incredibly hard to bring in 20+ men transfer classes and assume you can identify and secure them year-over-year better than your peers. If Ciggy does it again, we could be looking at the best head coach in the new age of college football.
So far, transfer success hasn't shown to be a consistent business, at least year-to-year. Norvell is showing the extreme swings that occur, but it's still too early to tell if that's natural regression. At worst, it seems incredibly hard to bring in 20+ men transfer classes and assume you can identify and secure them year-over-year better than your peers. If Ciggy does it again, we could be looking at the best head coach in the new age of college football.
Likely week 1 starters: Davis/Gesky/Kreutz/Henderson/Priestly (likeliest) OR Davis/Gesky/Kreutz/Priestly/Tyler McMillan.
Four starters are fairly solidified as all four were All BIG last season.
Is that Cal transfer QB at IU good? All I remember from Cal last season was quite possibly the worst kicking game in FBS and the utter choke job vs Miami.
Joel Goodson
- how was I to know, she was with the Russians too?
yeah, that's pretty likely. when looking at various units, a 3-deep gives a lot of info. here's Warner's projected 3-deep for the OL from the spring:
LT: J.C. Davis, Sr. // Ayden Knapik, Sr. // Nathan Knapik, R-So.
LG: Josh Gesky, Sr. // Brandon Hansen, So. // Kellen Francis, R-So.
C: Josh Kreutz, Sr. // TJ McMillen, R-So. OR Brandon Henderson, Jr. // Michael McDonough, Fr.
RG: Brandon Henderson, Jr. // Brandon Hansen, So. OR Melvin Priestly, Sr. // Dezmond Schuster, Sr.
RT: Melvin Priestly, Sr. // Tyler McMillan, R-Jr. // Zafir Stewart, R-Fr.
supposed to be pretty good. We'll see. I'm interested to see how their offense changes when their QB is not playing on a torn ACL.
mhuml32
Gesture of Northern Aggression
Regarding the McMillan discussion about fighting for playing time, it feels an awful lot like following up on recruiting promises than real evidence. He played at a small school, hasn't practiced yet at Illinois, but people are prognosticating that he's going to beat out a couple guys with B1G starting experience?
See Melvin Priestly.
Joel Goodson
- how was I to know, she was with the Russians too?
shiny new toy syndrome
just to be clear, am stoked about McMillian. has VG potential and I think he'll be a 2 year starter (just not this year)
Think this is accurate. Something has gone real wrong if it's 0-3.
Analysts are all over the map predicting how Duke, Indiana, and USC will perform this year.
I don't see @ Duke being great, but my Illini fandom trauma tells me to not get over confident about that game.
I think @ Indiana regresses SIGNIFICANTLY, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them give us their all...much like Purdue last year.
vs USC is homecoming and I (perhaps surprisingly) expect us to display dominance on the field there.
I'm admittedly not up to date on how the B1G Championship game works, but if it's 100% based on conference record, dropping the game @ Duke is the preferred loss. I don't see any of those teams in the top 16 come playoffs. It's a real possibility none of them are top 25...
I don't see @ Duke being great, but my Illini fandom trauma tells me to not get over confident about that game.
I think @ Indiana regresses SIGNIFICANTLY, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them give us their all...much like Purdue last year.
vs USC is homecoming and I (perhaps surprisingly) expect us to display dominance on the field there.
I'm admittedly not up to date on how the B1G Championship game works, but if it's 100% based on conference record, dropping the game @ Duke is the preferred loss. I don't see any of those teams in the top 16 come playoffs. It's a real possibility none of them are top 25...
I would also add @ Washington as being another big game that could determine how we view the season.
They're solid, and traveling to the west coast can be a challenge.
dont think washinton is that great. but maybe this looks wholly foolish come September.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Using last year's games as analogies (as you did with the Purdue game), I see these three games going like this:
W at Duke - Similar to the PSU away game last year where we come out strong with a great first drive. However, I think we hang onto our lead this time and win a close, hard-fought game.
W at Indiana - I agree that it will be similar to Purdue last year, except hopefully less crazy and with less of a collapse, lol. The point is, I think we win a crazy one, but I could easily see us drop this one.
W vs. USC - I see this one as being very similar to our Michigan performance last year - slow, methodical and never THAT much in doubt, even when it was close. In other words, I think we will outplay them and get a solid W.
I really think we win these three. If we are going to stub our toe similarly to how we did vs. Minnesota last year, I think it will come later in the year in late October or early November ... for whatever reason, that seems to more often be the trend for Bielema:
2021
10/23 - W 20-18 at #7 Penn State
---> 10/30 - L 14-20 vs. Rutgers
2022
10/29 - W 26-9 at Nebraska (Illini move to 7-1 and #16)
---> 11/5 - L 15-23 vs. Michigan State
2023
10/14 - W 27-24 at Maryland
---> 10/21 - L 21-25 vs. Wisconsin
2024
10/19 - W 21-7 vs. #24 Michigan (Illini move to 7-1 and #20)
[Away loss to #1 Oregon doesn't count as a letdown]
---> 11/2 - L 17-25 vs. Minnesota
My off-the-cuff prediction as of today (which will likely change drastically tomorrow!) is this:
W vs. Western Illinois
W at Duke
W vs. Western Michigan
W at Indiana
W vs. USC
W at Purdue
L vs. Ohio State
L at Washington
W vs. Rutgers
W vs. Maryland
W at Wisconsin
W vs. Northwestern
Basically, things will break our way this season until a bit of a minor midseason swoon, followed by a hot finish. If I had to pick another loss, it would 110% be one of Duke/Indiana.
We have to differentiate between coaches who have been in their position for awhile and coaches, like Cignetti, who change schools. When a coach changes schools, he has a built-in set of players who know him and are loyal to him. He can pick an "all-star team" from among 1) players who follow him, 2) those he inherits, and 3) those he draws from the regular transfer pool. The best way for a coach to have a Cignetti-type of season is to switch schools. After that, he's back to competing in only one of those markets for new talent - the regular portal pool. I don't think it's possible for a coach who is not switching schools to repeat that level of success year after year.
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