Illini Football 2025

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#1      

Dan

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Dan
Welcome to the Illinois Football 2025 thread :illinois:


Schedule | Roster | Tickets


2025 Illini Football (1-0, 0-0)
DateOpponentResult
Fri, Aug 29Western IllinoisW 52-3
Sat, Sept 6at Duke11:00am ESPN
Sat, Sept 13Western Michigan6:00pm FS1
Sat, Sept 20at Indiana
Sat, Sept 27USC
(Homecoming)
Sat, Oct 4at Purdue
Sat, Oct 11Ohio State
Sat, Oct 25at Washington
Sat, Nov 1Rutgers
Sat, Nov 15Maryland
Sat, Nov 22at Wisconsin
Sat, Nov 29Northwestern

All times CT
 
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phats22
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#5      
Illini2010-11
Calling it now. If the Illini start 5-1 or 6-0, Game Day will be coming to Champaign for the matchup with OSU. I expect Coach B to have the team prepared again for a good September, so this is quite possible to happen.

The only other major game I see that would have appeal is Oklahoma vs Texas at the Cotton Bowl, but both those teams could possibly be sitting on two losses at that point (Oklahoma plays Michigan and Auburn before the matchup, and Texas has two difficult roads games @OSU and @Florida).

We are overdue to host Game Day.
 
#7      
kyillinifan
Gabe in the 50 range for freak. Who is the author kidding. I hope he rips apart the O lineman in front of him. All American for Gabe. Looking forward to the start of the season. Hope for knee injuries this fall. There hasn't been really any mention of Mason Muragin. Any word on him playing this year.
 
#10      
mhuml32
Illini2010-11 said:
Calling it now. If the Illini start 5-1 or 6-0, Game Day will be coming to Champaign for the matchup with OSU. I expect Coach B to have the team prepared again for a good September, so this is quite possible to happen.

The only other major game I see that would have appeal is Oklahoma vs Texas at the Cotton Bowl, but both those teams could possibly be sitting on two losses at that point (Oklahoma plays Michigan and Auburn before the matchup, and Texas has two difficult roads games @OSU and @Florida).

We are overdue to host Game Day.
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Agreed. USC won't have enough helium that week to garner Gameday and that week's schedule across the country is hellacious. Getting a gameday between late September and late October is going to be very hard because of the scheduling and early-enough records to avoid blemishes. For example, if Oklahoma beats Michigan then it's likely 4-1 or better Texas and Oklahoma going into Red River and ESPN is going to likely pick that game. If Michigan beats Oklahoma, then their game against USC that same week is awfully enticing.

My prediction is Illinois will need to be undefeated going into the Ohio State game to feel confident getting gameday against the likes of Red River, USC v. Michigan, TAMU v. Florida, South Carolina v. LSU, Indiana v. Oregon, etc. The "sell" would be an Illinois win against Ohio State would push them to 7-0, two byes remaining, and the remaining schedule is very, very manageable to the point where you could narrate a potential Big Ten championship. Therefore, Ohio State would need to "win" in Champaign. It might even help if Ohio State lost to Texas so there are stakes that an Ohio State loss in Champaign could create peril of them making the playoff, but that's pushing it.

Best case scenario: #1 Ohio State (5-0) v. #6 Illinois (6-0) in Champaign, IL.
 
#12      
JKR
Illini2010-11 said:
Calling it now. If the Illini start 5-1 or 6-0, Game Day will be coming to Champaign for the matchup with OSU. I expect Coach B to have the team prepared again for a good September, so this is quite possible to happen.

The only other major game I see that would have appeal is Oklahoma vs Texas at the Cotton Bowl, but both those teams could possibly be sitting on two losses at that point (Oklahoma plays Michigan and Auburn before the matchup, and Texas has two difficult roads games @OSU and @Florida).

We are overdue to host Game Day.
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Not if tOSU is 2-4.
 
#13      
Witherspoon_illini
Here are my my predictions for this year
(Rankings are from the coaches poll that just came out)

8/29 vs Western Illinois W 52-7
9/6 @ Duke W 30-24 (ugly win)
9/13 vs Western Michigan W 31-17 (Trap Game)
9/20 @ #19 Indiana W 35-31
9/27 vs USC L 31-20 (We totally lay an egg after a huge win in Bloomington the week prior)
10/4 @ Purdue W 38-17 (Bounce Back game)
10/11 vs #2 Ohio State L 28-13
10/25 @ Washington L 27-21 (Ryan Walters has our number)
11/1 Vs Rutgers W 35-20
11/15 Vs Maryland W 42-17
11/22 @ Wisconsin W 27-6 (Bret Bielema will get his revenge on Luke Fickell from 2023)
11/29 @ Northwestern W 35-7
Final Record 9-3 (6-3)
 
#16      
illinoistradition
Witherspoon_illini said:
Here are my my predictions for this year
(Rankings are from the coaches poll that just came out)

8/29 vs Western Illinois W 52-7
9/6 @ Duke W 30-24 (ugly win)
9/13 vs Western Michigan W 31-17 (Trap Game)
9/20 @ #19 Indiana W 35-31
9/27 vs USC L 31-20 (We totally lay an egg after a huge win in Bloomington the week prior)
10/4 @ Purdue W 38-17 (Bounce Back game)
10/11 vs #2 Ohio State L 28-13
10/25 @ Washington L 27-21 (Ryan Walters has our number)
11/1 Vs Rutgers W 35-20
11/15 Vs Maryland W 42-17
11/22 @ Wisconsin W 27-6 (Bret Bielema will get his revenge on Luke Fickell from 2023)
11/29 @ Northwestern W 35-7
Final Record 9-3 (6-3)
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Two things we have going for us against Washington:

1) We have a bye week after the OSU game to plan for them.
2) They play Ohio State, then fly to Maryland, come back home against Rutgers, then fly to Michigan, then come back home against us with no breaks in between. That is brutal.
 
#19      
Fighter of the Nightman
Illini2010-11 said:
Calling it now. If the Illini start 5-1 or 6-0, Game Day will be coming to Champaign for the matchup with OSU. I expect Coach B to have the team prepared again for a good September, so this is quite possible to happen.

The only other major game I see that would have appeal is Oklahoma vs Texas at the Cotton Bowl, but both those teams could possibly be sitting on two losses at that point (Oklahoma plays Michigan and Auburn before the matchup, and Texas has two difficult roads games @OSU and @Florida).

We are overdue to host Game Day.
Click to expand...
I worry that too many people are treating College Gameday as having the "universality" it did several years ago. These were their locations last year, with weeks that involved an SEC or ACC team (i.e., the conferences ESPN has very direct financial interest in!) in red.

W1 - #7 Notre Dame at #20 Texas A&M
W2 - #3 Texas at #10 Michigan
W3 - #16 LSU at South Carolina
W4 - #6 Tennessee at #15 Oklahoma
W5 - #2 Georgia at #4 Alabama
W6 - #8 Miami (FL) at Cal
W7 - #2 Ohio State at #3 Oregon
W8 - #5 Georgia at #1 Texas
W9 - Washington at #13 Indiana
W10 - #4 Ohio State at #3 Penn State
W11 - #11 Alabama at #14 LSU
W12 - #5 Indiana at #2 Ohio State
W13 - #3 Texas at #20 Texas A&M
W14 - #2 Texas vs. #5 Georgia (SEC Championship)

So for 10 of the 14 weeks with a full slate of regular season games, they elected to feature at least one ACC or (much more often) SEC program. Of the 4 times they deviated from that script, 3 were matchups of two top 5 teams, and the other was to cash in on the absolute surprise that was Indiana's regular season last year.

Point being, they will definitely go to a Big Ten campus if they're convinced that the money/excitement is there ... but if the choices are equal, they'll give us the finger and stick with the conference(s) they shill for. FOX does the same thing with Big Noon Kickoff, and they have effectively pitched that as a "Big Ten/Big 12 version of Gameday," which obviously doesn't incentivize ESPN to come give exposure to the Big Ten.
 
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