Illini Football 2026

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#101      
BZuppke
Old.Edgy said:
I'm afraid Gary Moeller tainted my view of scUM people who come to work for my beloved.... I hope he proves me wrong...
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I hear you but Moeller was sent here by Bo to destroy Illinois. I don’t think that’s the case with Wheatley
 
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#102      
STLini25
AirTran said:
It wiould appear to me just the opposite based on Indiana's success. The teams that are succeeding are spending on coaching (on field) and development (off field) and the magic number (away from the head coach) appears to be $8mm. Not a lot of teams spend that much on assistants. There is no correlation whatsoever (and of course this is with only 3 years of data) between spending on players and CFP berths.

Indiana was in the middle of the pack on player spend last yeaar (based on the data I have seen) but they were near the top on coach spend.

I also noticed that O;e' Miss, Oregon and Ohio State lost coaches for the playoff. I am fairly confident that impacted how all of them performed.
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The number one craziest statement of all time that there is “no correlation whatsoever between spending on players and CFP berths.” Every person in college football would disagree with you including statements by our head coach numerous times. The top 12 teams at the end of the season are all in the top 15 teams in NIL spending.

In addition, “your data” that Indiana was middle of the pack in player spend last year is WAY OFF.
 
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#103      
AirTran
The number one craziest statement of all time that there is “no correlation whatsoever between spending on players and CFP berths.” Every person in college football would disagree with you including statements by our head coach numerous times. The top 12 teams at the end of the season are all in the top 15 teams in NIL spending.

In addition, “your data” that Indiana was middle of the pack in player spend last year is WAY OFF.
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Top 2025 NIL Spending Leaders (Estimated)
Based on reports for the 2025 season, these programs are identified as leading in NIL, roster, and collective spending:
  1. Texas Longhorns: ~$35M–$40M+
  2. Ohio State Buckeyes: ~$35M (roster/NIL)
  3. Texas Tech Red Raiders: ~$30M (roster/NIL)
  4. Oregon Ducks
  5. Miami Hurricanes: ~$15M (roster)
  6. Texas A&M Aggies: ~$18.5M
  7. USC Trojans
  8. Michigan Wolverines
  9. Tennessee Volunteers
  10. Auburn Tigers: ~$11.58M
  11. Alabama Crimson Tide: ~$15.9M
  12. Florida Gators: ~$15.8M
  13. Clemson Tigers: ~$15.2M
  14. Oklahoma Sooners: ~$14.8M
  15. Georgia Bulldogs (implied by elite status and top-25 industry estimates)
    Let me repeat - there is no statistical correlation between player spend and CFP berth
    Let me also repeat there is statistical correlation betwween on field coach spend and CFP
    Let me suggest you go listen to BB's Thursday statement - I keep looking for Oklahoma, Indiana, James Madison, Ole Miss, Georgia in the top 12 on player spend and am confused why Texas, USC, Michigan, Tennessee, Auburn, Florida and Clemson didn't make the CFP - there is no correlation.
 
#104      
AirTran
Top 2025 NIL Spending Leaders (Estimated)
Based on reports for the 2025 season, these programs are identified as leading in NIL, roster, and collective spending:
  1. Texas Longhorns: ~$35M–$40M+
  2. Ohio State Buckeyes: ~$35M (roster/NIL)
  3. Texas Tech Red Raiders: ~$30M (roster/NIL)
  4. Oregon Ducks
  5. Miami Hurricanes: ~$15M (roster)
  6. Texas A&M Aggies: ~$18.5M
  7. USC Trojans
  8. Michigan Wolverines
  9. Tennessee Volunteers
  10. Auburn Tigers: ~$11.58M
  11. Alabama Crimson Tide: ~$15.9M
  12. Florida Gators: ~$15.8M
  13. Clemson Tigers: ~$15.2M
  14. Oklahoma Sooners: ~$14.8M
  15. Georgia Bulldogs (implied by elite status and top-25 industry estimates)
    Let me repeat - there is no statistical correlation between player spend and CFP berth
    Let me also repeat there is statistical correlation betwween on field coach spend and CFP
    Let me suggest you go listen to BB's Thursday statement - I keep looking for Oklahoma, Indiana, James Madison, Ole Miss, Georgia in the top 12 on player spend and am confused why Texas, USC, Michigan, Tennessee, Auburn, Florida and Clemson didn't make the CFP - there is no correlation.
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My bad - I missed on Tulane
 
#105      
AirTran
mhuml32 said:
This is a good breakdown. I get that it's complicated for folks, and in some ways the system is designed to be complicated. Folks should just remember the part bolded above, there is a revenue share bucket (likely around 75% of the total revenue share number) and an NIL bucket (can be unlimited).
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Each collective deal is different as you might expect. UM has the best (for players that is).
 
#106      
AirTran
The number one craziest statement of all time that there is “no correlation whatsoever between spending on players and CFP berths.” Every person in college football would disagree with you including statements by our head coach numerous times. The top 12 teams at the end of the season are all in the top 15 teams in NIL spending.

In addition, “your data” that Indiana was middle of the pack in player spend last year is WAY OFF.
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In fact no one in college football (including Bret Bielema) would disgree with my statement. I think you want to be careful about questioning anyone's knowledge or mental capacity and focus on your own.
 
#108      
GatorMcKlusky
Dan said:
IL has a normal regular season, beginning Week 1 (Labor Day weekend) thru Thanksgiving weekend (regular season finale).

Week 1 thru Thanksgiving weekend is either 13 weeks (1 bye week) or 14 weeks (2 bye weeks), just depends on the date of Labor Day (Sept 1 thru Sept 7). Go Illini
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Thank you!
 
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#112      
ptgrd23
The number one craziest statement of all time that there is “no correlation whatsoever between spending on players and CFP berths.” Every person in college football would disagree with you including statements by our head coach numerous times. The top 12 teams at the end of the season are all in the top 15 teams in NIL spending.

In addition, “your data” that Indiana was middle of the pack in player spend last year is WAY OFF.
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No different than MLB - Unless the NIL agency has real power. It will be same old schools paying the most. Look at all the players transferring to Miami this off season.
 
#114      
Old.Edgy
I hear you but Moeller was sent here by Bo to destroy Illinois. I don’t think that’s the case with Wheatley
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I'm sure you're right... It's just me.. I really dislike scUM... But mainly for reasons that go beyond Bo, or Gary or even sports actually...
 
#118      
Joel Goodson
really looking forward to an updated roster. am assuming it'll be released soon (not soon enough, dammit!)
 
#120      
AirTran
Bret’s not saying we operated at half that. We spent over 25 million between the recruiting class, transfer class and retention.
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Where are you getting your numbers ? This is what I have:

Illinois-specific details:
  • Revenue sharing for football: ~$15.4 million (aligned with Big Ten averages; no reports of Illinois opting below max).
  • NIL/collectives: Historically modest compared to peers. The former ICON collective ceased operations, with athletics shifting to direct NIL rights purchases (reflected in FY2025 fundraising/marketing costs rising sharply to $21.9 million). Illinois has been described as conservative, with lower reported team-wide NIL figures pre-2025-26 (e.g., low millions in prior years vs. top programs in the $20M+ range for rosters).
And based on the data I have, we rank 14 of 18 in the B1G.

Do have more accurate info?
 
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