Can they even afford to cut him this year? Maybe he makes a Bowl game and they give another meaningless 1 year extension.
Illini Football 2025
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Fickell could argue that losing his QB last year hamstrung him. But that really masks just how uncompetitive they were in their losses. In fact the most competitive loss they had where their starting QB could have arguably made a difference was vs Oregon, but I have a suspicion Oregon would have pulled that out in any instance.
Maybe he hits on all his transfers and has a successful year but the odds are against it. Can’t wait for our game in November. First time we’ve played since their tackle eligible shenanigans. Think Bret will have something extra for that game. He tends to keep receipts.
They may very well be 3-7 by that time. Always could be wrong, but honestly don't see where the wins are coming from this year.
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lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
Need a 'love' button for this post.
Looks equally good when you write who we don't play
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Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
IU is the only B1G road game where the opponent is projected to be a top half team. The schedule looks ripe for a top 3 or 4 finish in the B1G standings. This team needs to take care of business in games they should be favored in, and this spells a pretty good shot at being in playoff conversation.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
The Duke game might define the season. I see 2 B1G losses. That gets us in, but a Duke loss could keep us out.
Joel Goodson
- how was I to know, she was with the Russians too?
not great for Leary:
he wouldn't have started anyway. tulane has bought in 5 different QBs this season.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
And it looks even nicer when you spell it out game by game for Big Ten play...
#4 Illinois at #6 Indiana
#7 USC at #4 Illinois
#4 Illinois at #18 Purdue
#1 Ohio State at #4 Illinois
--- BYE WEEK ---
#4 Illinois at #10 Washington
#15 Rutgers at #4 Illinois
--- BYE WEEK ---
#16 Maryland at #4 Illinois
#4 Illinois at #12 Wisconsin
#17 Northwestern at #4 Illinois
I did this once before, but let's be somewhat optimistic and say this veteran squad is able to handle business at Duke, and we go 3-0 in the non-conference. Using those rankings, our Big Ten season goes like this, IMO...
Absolutely Cannot Lose ... Assume 4-0. Right there, you are at 7 wins, and we at least avoid a TRULY objective "regression" season.
vs. #15 Rutgers
vs. #16 Maryland
vs. #17 Northwestern
at #18 Purdue
SHOULD Win, Could Lose ... Assume 1-1. Whether it's a tough road loss to Wisconsin or stubbing our toe vs. a talented USC team at home.
vs. #7 USC
at #12 Wisconsin
Possible/Likely Underdogs but Absolutely Could Win ... Assume 1-1. Both tough road matchups, but I have the feeling we steal one of them.
at #6 Indiana
at #10 Washington
Playing With House Money ... Assume 0-1. If you win this one, all bets are off!
vs. #1 Ohio State
So just going by this, there's your back-to-back 9 wins in the regular season - an INCREDIBLE feat for this program. Manage to go 3-1 in those middle categories and/or pull off the shocker vs. Ohio State, and you are a bona fide CFP candidate. Additionally, I L-O-V-E the bye week right after the huge OSU game and before the big trip to Washington. Then we come home from Seattle, get Rutgers at home and get one more rest before a 3-game stretch where we could/should finish hot with some wins and carry momentum into the postseason again.
TL;DR
While so many are getting the "afraid of success" bug (and understandably, I might add!!), the fact is our schedule sets us up in such a way that I really do think it would be a huge missed opportunity and somewhat of a disappointment if we can't get back to 9 wins. Obviously that depends on who we beat, I guess, but on paper, 8 wins or fewer means we failed our biggest tests. 9 wins or more just might mean we definitively change the narrative/perception of Illini football in the near term.
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
I circle the @Washington game as one of the most important games of the season. The Illini have a very front-loaded B1G schedule, and this particular game could be make or break for momentum in the season, especially with the Illini coming off a bye week after the clash with the nuts.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Yeah, I think our biggest "X factor" games are at Duke, at Indiana and at Washington. All three are tough road games vs. good teams, with the latter being one of the most difficult places to play in the country. Winning 2 of those 3 would be a VERY loud statement that we are indeed living up to the hype.
On a similar note, I am bummed OSU plays at Washington earlier in the season! Right now, Washington has the second longest active home winning streak at 20 straight games (only behind Georgia's 32 straight). If OSU beats Washington, we don't get the chance to bust up the streak ourselves ... and if OSU loses at Washington, at dampens at least a little of the hype of the Buckeyes coming to Champaign.
Glossed over Duke, which I am pretty concerned about. 9 win team last year and their transfer QB from Tulane looks like the real deal and, although looks to be primarily a pocket passer, also looks to be pretty mobile. The exact type of QB that gives us fits. Plus it’s our first road game. I don’t know how we always manage to schedule the P4 bottom feeders in their one good stretch of football in 20 years.
Open conference play on the road too, and we will be IUs first real test.
Even if we are really good this year, wouldn’t shock me at all if we are 2-2 headed into USC game.
Not trying to be a negative Nancy as I really am bullish on this year and think we can be really really good. But I think the front part of our schedule is a lot harder than people are giving it credit for. Early P4 road games are always tough, and we have 2 of them against likely 8+ win teams.
The fortunes of Illinois and Purdue sure have diverged over the past few seasons.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
FTR, I do not take a win at Duke for granted in any way whatsoever. I actually included it as one of my three "X factor" games in my next post. I simply optimistically assumed we somehow got a W there because there was no corresponding ranking I could apply to the Duke game like I could to the Big Ten games where each team had a preseason ranking.
If we use K-Ford rankings so that we can include a Duke ranking, their #32 defense against our #28 offense will be a good mach-up. But I'll take our #22 defense to stop their #71 offense, and in the matchup of special teams, our #19th ranked ST will win the field position battle over their 69th ranked ST (go Hank!). Chalk up a W.
Then we have an advantage over Indiana, as Rockford mentioned, because Indiana plays nobodies before they play us. We'll be battle tested but it'll be the first big test for IU. That helps nullify the home field advantage for them.
Then MSU is the only test for SC before they have to travel across two time zones to play us. Teams who traveled across 2 time zones last year had a terrible record. I'm counting on (but not betting on) being 6-0 going into the big game at home. Ohhhh this is so fun!
I don't think the Illini lose @ Duke. The score may make it look like it was close (something like 20-28, but I don't expect Duke to come out on top.
I also feel better about @ Indiana than I do @ Washington. IDK why, but I do.
I also feel better about @ Indiana than I do @ Washington. IDK why, but I do.
agree on both
Anyone know if this is open to the public? Im in Vegas and might swing down to it, if so. It appears only press can get in.
We'd find a way to lose
Dan
Admin
Illinois Kicks Off Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday - University of Illinois Athletics
The Illini trio, alongside head coach Bret Bielema, will travel to Las Vegas to represent the program on Tuesday.
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