That hasn't been decided yet.
Illini Football 2026
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Dan
Admin
It depends on the date of Labor Day weekend (Week 1) to determine if the regular season has 13 weeks (1 bye) or 14 weeks (2 byes) thru Thanksgiving weekend. Last year Labor Day was early at Sept 1st so we had 14 weeks (2 byes). This year Labor Day is late at Sept 7th so 13 weeks (1 bye). Go Illini
SoFi is much closer to UCLA's campus, and is an incredibly huge/comfortable/impressive modern pro stadium.
But it has no soul, and while the Rose Bowl is a pain to travel to and lacks modern amenities, it is dripping with history, has FAR superior tailgating, and is just a better college football environment. I hope that UCLA stays put.
yea
we were out there in 2003 for that non con game we lost 6-3. just loved that atmosphere at the Rose Bowl
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
They’ve threatened this and the city of Pasadena filed a lawsuit. At the same time, UCLA sent out season ticket renewal for seats at the Rose Bowl, revealing the worst bluff ever!
Fun home slate Oregon Nebraska iowa
We Are Not losing to Ucla. Nebby and Northwestern are toss ups. No reason we cant lay Iowa out at home, toss up.
Wisconsin with a very navigable schedule. Dodge tOSU, IU, and Oregon.
Another thing,bringing back the coach and some players who gave up 30 pts per game, has me worried. Unless we found a bunch of hidden gems on defense, color me worried. We lose a quarterback that is top 5 in Illini history. I trust CoachB, but defense and the coach terrify me.This is not stepping up to elite level, its getting by.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
Rose Bowl’s about a 25 minute walk for me though… so I’m definitely opposed to the SoFi move.
And Michigan. Maybe Wisconsin will get out of its funk.
PFF College Football 101: The top 101 players from the 2025 season
Now that the 2025 college football season has concluded, it’s time to take stock of the year’s top performers. The PFF College 101 highlights the 101 best players from the 2025 season, combining PFF grades, on-field impact and positional value to provide a comprehensive look at college...
www.pff.com
JC Davis, No. 54
Hank Beatty, No. 66
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- Batavia
The Athletic did a nice job of pulling the three best games in every given week of the season. Using this list, I am going to predict our national TV appearances by assigning FOX (Big Noon) / CBS (2:30) / NBC (Big Ten Saturday Night) to each game. Then, I will take an early stab at our full tv schedule. Note, I know that NBC doesn't always have a Big Ten Saturday Night game. But for this exercise I will assume that each network gets a game each week.
Sept. 26: Oregon at USC (NBC), Iowa at Michigan (FOX), Illinois at Ohio State (CBS)
Oct. 3: Ohio State at Iowa (FOX), Washington at USC (CBS), Michigan at Minnesota (NBC)
Oct. 10: USC at Penn State (NBC), Indiana at Nebraska (FOX), Iowa at Washington (CBS)
Oct. 17: Ohio State at Indiana (FOX), Penn State at Michigan (NBC), Nebraska at Oregon (CBS)
Oct. 24: Indiana at Michigan (FOX), Oregon at Illinois (CBS), USC at Wisconsin (NBC)
Oct. 31: Ohio State at USC (NBC), Washington at Nebraska (CBS), Wisconsin at Iowa (FOX)
Nov. 7: Oregon at Ohio State (FOX), Michigan State at Michigan (CBS), Penn State at Washington (NBC, but not in usual time slot due to Miami-ND, maybe late kickoff?)
Nov. 14: Michigan at Oregon (NBC), USC at Indiana (CBS), Minnesota at Penn State (FOX)
Nov. 21: Ohio State at Nebraska (CBS), Indiana at Washington (NBC), Iowa at Illinois (FOX)
Nov. 28: Michigan at Ohio State (FOX), Washington at Oregon (NBC), Nebraska at Iowa (Friday)
Week 1: UAB 7:00 FS1 (Thursday Night)
Week 2: Duke 11:00 FS1
Week 3: Southern Illinois 7:00 Peacock
Week 4: @ Ohio State 2:30 CBS
Week 5: Purdue 11:00 BTN
Week 6: @ Michigan State 11:00 FS1
Week 7: Bye
Week 8: Oregon 2:30 CBS
Week 9: @ Maryland 2:30 BTN
Week 10: Nebraska 11:00 FS1
Week 11: @ UCLA 9:30 BTN (LATE NIGHT FOOTBALL)
Week 12: Iowa 11:00 FOX
Week 13: @ Northwestern 11:00 FS1
Sept. 26: Oregon at USC (NBC), Iowa at Michigan (FOX), Illinois at Ohio State (CBS)
Oct. 3: Ohio State at Iowa (FOX), Washington at USC (CBS), Michigan at Minnesota (NBC)
Oct. 10: USC at Penn State (NBC), Indiana at Nebraska (FOX), Iowa at Washington (CBS)
Oct. 17: Ohio State at Indiana (FOX), Penn State at Michigan (NBC), Nebraska at Oregon (CBS)
Oct. 24: Indiana at Michigan (FOX), Oregon at Illinois (CBS), USC at Wisconsin (NBC)
Oct. 31: Ohio State at USC (NBC), Washington at Nebraska (CBS), Wisconsin at Iowa (FOX)
Nov. 7: Oregon at Ohio State (FOX), Michigan State at Michigan (CBS), Penn State at Washington (NBC, but not in usual time slot due to Miami-ND, maybe late kickoff?)
Nov. 14: Michigan at Oregon (NBC), USC at Indiana (CBS), Minnesota at Penn State (FOX)
Nov. 21: Ohio State at Nebraska (CBS), Indiana at Washington (NBC), Iowa at Illinois (FOX)
Nov. 28: Michigan at Ohio State (FOX), Washington at Oregon (NBC), Nebraska at Iowa (Friday)
Week 1: UAB 7:00 FS1 (Thursday Night)
Week 2: Duke 11:00 FS1
Week 3: Southern Illinois 7:00 Peacock
Week 4: @ Ohio State 2:30 CBS
Week 5: Purdue 11:00 BTN
Week 6: @ Michigan State 11:00 FS1
Week 7: Bye
Week 8: Oregon 2:30 CBS
Week 9: @ Maryland 2:30 BTN
Week 10: Nebraska 11:00 FS1
Week 11: @ UCLA 9:30 BTN (LATE NIGHT FOOTBALL)
Week 12: Iowa 11:00 FOX
Week 13: @ Northwestern 11:00 FS1
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
And if we eat our vegetables, finish our homework on time, and say our prayers every night, it always will be.
We could easily be 8-2 going into the Iowa game. That would hopefully bring out a great crowd in the midst of going into Thanksgiving break. Students have stuck around for games in the past (I'm thinking Rose Bowl year), so hopefully they would do the same there.
Yes except all games October 24 and after. 1 home BT prior to October 24.
Only way we get a big crowd on November 21 is temperatures in the 50s and record of 9-2
What 3 games do you have on the major networks for Week 2? I don't see how one of them doesn't carry you guys vs Duke? Obviously Mich/Oklahoma and Iowa/Iowa St.
Week 1: UAB 7:00 FS1 (Thursday Night)
Drub game. New QB throws a few nice fade passes for TD in first half. 2nd half we pound the rock and walk away with win. 1-0
Week 2: Duke 11:00 FS1
QB room at Duke is in disarray. All the great athletes will run around wondering why the signed with Duke. However offense struggles as Dukes D is legit. In the end because we always kick the field goals we win by 9. 2-0
Week 3: Southern Illinois 7:00 Peacock
Another drubbing. SIU shows why they went to the championship game in the first half. Several picks including a pick 6 make this a reason to tailgate but not really cheer as at least one ILL team will loose. 3-0
Week 4: @ Ohio State 2:30 CBS
Season gets real. Just not enough umph in the D line to consistently stop on 3rd down. Also a turn over on a late first half drive creates to much distance. 3-1
Week 5: Purdue 11:00 BTN
Illini return to their winning ways. Defense struggle results in classic late game strategy by BB to seal this one. 4-1
Week 6: @ Michigan State 11:00 FS1
Fritz turn around is happening but not like Indy. Still not enough talent at the QB position or Online to handle the Illini. 5-1
Week 7: Bye
We win the bye week going away. We get healthy and work on our Oregon prep. Specifically rpo wrinkles and a shocking effective blitz package to exploit the small defect in Oregon O line. 5-1
Week 8: Oregon 2:30 CBS
Illini shock Oregon. BB praises Jamison for finding the crack in the line of scrimmage to have a multi sack game from. Late field goal seals a surprise win. 6-1
Week 9: @ Maryland 2:30 BTN
The faithful suffer a hangover but not enough for a loss. Maryland does what they do and loose this game more than we actually win it. 7-1
Week 10: Nebraska 11:00 FS1
Neb. just can't get it together. They fire their coach after an Illini win. QB issues and a slow defense means they can never establish themselves with authority. Illini receivers have a hayday as our QB has one of his best days of the year picking them apart. 8-1
Week 11: @ UCLA 9:30 BTN (LATE NIGHT FOOTBALL)
Classic trap game. Hype and the looky lou at Iowa means we drop a stinker. An ugly loss and a looooog flight back to the Smith Center has everyone pissed. 9-2
Week 12: Iowa 11:00 FOX
Iowa punishes Illini at the line of scrimmage. Not a high scoring game. Our fast outside playmakers land some haymakers for big yardage but it's not enough in an otherwise bood and guts Big 10 game. 9-3
Week 13: @ Northwestern 11:00 FS1
Orange Crush finish the year with a win and prep for another Cheese It bowl. 10-3
Bowl: Illini vs Alabama
The faithful win the bowl game by at least 10. The tide fire their coach and continue the long laughable slide to mediocrity in the NIL world. Later BB picks up a commitment from an AL wr in the portal and smirks as he talks about how strange CFB has become. 11-3
JW starts making plans for BBs Statue at Memorial Stadium
Thank my local DMV for this post.....
Drub game. New QB throws a few nice fade passes for TD in first half. 2nd half we pound the rock and walk away with win. 1-0
Week 2: Duke 11:00 FS1
QB room at Duke is in disarray. All the great athletes will run around wondering why the signed with Duke. However offense struggles as Dukes D is legit. In the end because we always kick the field goals we win by 9. 2-0
Week 3: Southern Illinois 7:00 Peacock
Another drubbing. SIU shows why they went to the championship game in the first half. Several picks including a pick 6 make this a reason to tailgate but not really cheer as at least one ILL team will loose. 3-0
Week 4: @ Ohio State 2:30 CBS
Season gets real. Just not enough umph in the D line to consistently stop on 3rd down. Also a turn over on a late first half drive creates to much distance. 3-1
Week 5: Purdue 11:00 BTN
Illini return to their winning ways. Defense struggle results in classic late game strategy by BB to seal this one. 4-1
Week 6: @ Michigan State 11:00 FS1
Fritz turn around is happening but not like Indy. Still not enough talent at the QB position or Online to handle the Illini. 5-1
Week 7: Bye
We win the bye week going away. We get healthy and work on our Oregon prep. Specifically rpo wrinkles and a shocking effective blitz package to exploit the small defect in Oregon O line. 5-1
Week 8: Oregon 2:30 CBS
Illini shock Oregon. BB praises Jamison for finding the crack in the line of scrimmage to have a multi sack game from. Late field goal seals a surprise win. 6-1
Week 9: @ Maryland 2:30 BTN
The faithful suffer a hangover but not enough for a loss. Maryland does what they do and loose this game more than we actually win it. 7-1
Week 10: Nebraska 11:00 FS1
Neb. just can't get it together. They fire their coach after an Illini win. QB issues and a slow defense means they can never establish themselves with authority. Illini receivers have a hayday as our QB has one of his best days of the year picking them apart. 8-1
Week 11: @ UCLA 9:30 BTN (LATE NIGHT FOOTBALL)
Classic trap game. Hype and the looky lou at Iowa means we drop a stinker. An ugly loss and a looooog flight back to the Smith Center has everyone pissed. 9-2
Week 12: Iowa 11:00 FOX
Iowa punishes Illini at the line of scrimmage. Not a high scoring game. Our fast outside playmakers land some haymakers for big yardage but it's not enough in an otherwise bood and guts Big 10 game. 9-3
Week 13: @ Northwestern 11:00 FS1
Orange Crush finish the year with a win and prep for another Cheese It bowl. 10-3
Bowl: Illini vs Alabama
The faithful win the bowl game by at least 10. The tide fire their coach and continue the long laughable slide to mediocrity in the NIL world. Later BB picks up a commitment from an AL wr in the portal and smirks as he talks about how strange CFB has become. 11-3
JW starts making plans for BBs Statue at Memorial Stadium
Thank my local DMV for this post.....
10-2 in the regular season would probably be playoff! Which I think would result in 11-3, 12-3, 13-3 or 14-2.
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