Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
Illini Football 2026
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
Perhaps Illini football really hasn't changed all that much. In 1991 when Mackovic left for Texas we had a legit top 20 program and some insane talent on the roster. Had enough there to go hire a proven head coach from at least a MAC or similar level of school if not a head coach from a lower rung power conference school. Instead we went cheap & hired one of the worst coaches in the history of NCAA football in Lou Tepper & the program has never been the same since. Credit to Bret that he has brought us to where we are today but if he isn't given the resources it's gonna go right back into the doldrums.
agree
JW had better be working the phones constantly & pressing the flesh at the home games
To me that is why this loss to Duke hurt so much. The team has to have sustained success to have a hope getting fans/donors excited and moving up the pecking order. An 8 win season would put us on that path and letting that one slip away means the team has to run the table in the toss up games or steal one from OSU, Oregon or Iowa. 5 or 6 six wins would be reverting to the mean.
I love Bret Bielema
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
I took each teams current budget for this year and calculated each team's wins over the past 2 years to find out how much it costs per win. This isn't perfect because this is a one year budget and I'm calculating wins over a 2 year period. My goal wasn't to find out the exact cost per win, but just to compare who's paying the least and most for their wins.
| Rank | Team | Budget | 2024 W | 2025 W | Total | $/Win |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke | $10.5M | 9 | 9 | 18 | $1.17M |
| 2 | Iowa State | $12.5M | 11 | 8 | 19 | $1.32M |
| 3 | Cincinnati | $11.5M | 5 | 7 | 12 | $1.92M |
| 4 | Arizona | $12.5M | 4 | 9 | 13 | $1.92M |
| 5 | Minnesota | $15.5M | 8 | 8 | 16 | $1.94M |
| 6 | Houston | $14.0M | 4 | 10 | 14 | $2.00M |
| 7 | Iowa | $17.0M | 8 | 9 | 17 | $2.00M |
| 8 | SMU | $21.0M | 11 | 9 | 20 | $2.10M |
| 9 | Kansas State | $16.5M | 9 | 6 | 15 | $2.20M |
| 10 | Pitt | $16.5M | 7 | 8 | 15 | $2.20M |
| 11 | Utah | $18.0M | 5 | 11 | 16 | $2.25M |
| 12 | Arizona State | $21.5M | 11 | 8 | 19 | $2.26M |
| 13 | BYU | $27.0M | 11 | 12 | 23 | $2.35M |
| 14 | Illinois | $22.5M | 10 | 9 | 19 | $2.37M |
| 15 | Wake Forest | $16.0M | 4 | 9 | 13 | $2.46M |
| 16 | Washington | $19.5M | 6 | 9 | 15 | $2.60M |
| 17 | Boston College | $10.5M | 7 | 1 | 8 | $2.62M |
| 18 | Louisville | $24.5M | 9 | 9 | 18 | $2.72M |
| 19 | Indiana | $37.5M | 11 | 16 | 27 | $2.78M |
| 20 | TCU | $25.0M | 9 | 9 | 18 | $2.78M |
| 21 | Virginia | $22.5M | 5 | 11 | 16 | $2.81M |
| 22 | Colorado | $17.5M | 9 | 3 | 12 | $2.92M |
| 23 | Syracuse | $19.0M | 10 | 3 | 13 | $2.92M |
| 24 | Georgia | $34.0M | 11 | 12 | 23 | $2.96M |
| 25 | UCF | $13.5M | 4 | 5 | 9 | $3.00M |
| 26 | Baylor | $20.0M | 8 | 5 | 13 | $3.08M |
| 27 | Kansas | $15.5M | 5 | 5 | 10 | $3.10M |
| 28 | Penn State | $31.0M | 13 | 7 | 20 | $3.10M |
| 29 | Cal | $21.0M | 6 | 7 | 13 | $3.23M |
| 30 | Vanderbilt | $27.5M | 7 | 10 | 17 | $3.24M |
| 31 | Missouri | $29.5M | 10 | 8 | 18 | $3.28M |
| 32 | Georgia Tech | $26.5M | 7 | 9 | 16 | $3.31M |
| 33 | Rutgers | $21.5M | 7 | 5 | 12 | $3.58M |
| 34 | Notre Dame | $43.5M | 14 | 10 | 24 | $3.62M |
| 35 | Clemson | $31.0M | 10 | 7 | 17 | $3.65M |
| 36 | Ole Miss | $43.5M | 10 | 13 | 23 | $3.78M |
| 37 | NC State | $27.5M | 6 | 8 | 14 | $3.93M |
| 38 | Ohio State | $51.5M | 14 | 12 | 26 | $3.96M |
| 39 | Oregon | $51.5M | 13 | 13 | 26 | $3.96M |
| 40 | Alabama | $40.0M | 9 | 11 | 20 | $4.00M |
| 41 | West Virginia | $20.0M | 6 | 4 | 10 | $4.00M |
| 42 | Oklahoma | $32.5M | 6 | 10 | 16 | $4.06M |
| 43 | Miami | $47.5M | 10 | 13 | 23 | $4.13M |
| 44 | Texas Tech | $41.5M | 8 | 12 | 20 | $4.15M |
| 45 | Northwestern | $23.5M | 4 | 7 | 11 | $4.27M |
| 46 | Michigan | $37.5M | 8 | 9 | 17 | $4.41M |
| 47 | Texas | $51.5M | 13 | 10 | 23 | $4.48M |
| 48 | Tennessee | $42.0M | 10 | 8 | 18 | $4.67M |
| 49 | North Carolina | $23.5M | 6 | 4 | 10 | $4.70M |
| 50 | USC | $38.0M | 7 | 9 | 16 | $4.75M |
| 51 | Nebraska | $33.5M | 7 | 7 | 14 | $4.79M |
| 52 | Texas A&M | $47.5M | 8 | 11 | 19 | $5.00M |
| 53 | Michigan State | $23.0M | 5 | 4 | 9 | $5.11M |
| 54 | Stanford | $18.0M | 3 | 4 | 7 | $5.14M |
| 55 | South Carolina | $34.0M | 9 | 4 | 13 | $5.23M |
| 56 | Kentucky | $24.0M | 4 | 5 | 9 | $5.33M |
| 57 | Arkansas | $25.5M | 7 | 2 | 9 | $5.67M |
| 58 | Oklahoma State | $11.5M | 3 | 1 | 4 | $5.75M |
| 59 | LSU | $47.5M | 9 | 7 | 16 | $5.94M |
| 60 | Florida | $36.0M | 8 | 4 | 12 | $6.00M |
| 61 | Maryland | $25.0M | 4 | 4 | 8 | $6.25M |
| 62 | Virginia Tech | $30.0M | 6 | 3 | 9 | $6.67M |
| 63 | Auburn | $33.5M | 5 | 5 | 10 | $6.70M |
| 64 | UCLA | $27.5M | 5 | 3 | 8 | $6.88M |
| 65 | Wisconsin | $31.0M | 5 | 4 | 9 | $6.89M |
| 66 | Florida State | $26.0M | 2 | 5 | 7 | $7.43M |
| 67 | Mississippi State | $29.0M | 2 | 5 | 7 | $8.29M |
| 68 | Purdue | $16.5M | 1 | 2 | 3 | $11.00M |
Purdue is really bad at this.
The fact that NORTHWESTERN has a higher budget than we do speaks volumes...
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Tackling is a perishable skill? In football? It's a required skill that's taught in middle school or earlier.
All of these guys know how to tackle opponents with similar size, speed and athleticism. When the opponents measurables are better than their own....that's where the problem lies. The RB for Duke was the best athlete on the field and we couldn't tackle him.
Pat Ryan says hello
Northwestern probably spends next to nothing on basketball while we spend near the top.
Looking at this chart you can see that a lot of the top basketball programs are near the bottom of this, and I bet the reverse is also true. NIL dollars aren't an infinite resource and most dollars probably come out of the same pool of boosters for both football and basketball.
I've always kinda thought with NIL you'd start to see some schools prioritizing one or the other as the primary focus. It's going to be hard for anyone to put together the NIL needed to be a top team in both football and basketball. Boosters want a championship, and if basketball looks more promising then the enthusiasm, and money, will go that direction. And vice versa. My guess is that Indiana, for example, saw it's boosters shift their focus to football and left DeVries out to dry a bit.
Perishable in that you can’t do it at a consistently high level w/o ongoing practice. Good performance doesn’t require practice, but excellence under pressure when things happen very fast does. Why do baseball players bother with batting practice? Kickers practice kicking. Quarterbacks practice passing. Receivers practice catching.
Our tackling was awful against UAB too, and they didn’t outmatch us in measurable and athleticism. I’m sure we still knew how to tackle, but we looked rusty in both games. Knowing how isn’t enough.
Yes, obviously our running game is not going to be a strength once again this year.
Oregon very nearly lost their first game too.
Also it matters where the tackling is being done. 4 to 5 yards up field is not doing you much good.
BZuppke
- Plainfield
Crucial mistake. Remember Mackovic was AD as well, so we had no leadership in making that hire.
Let's talk about The Mission, which at Illinois is always to win six no matter what happened last year.
Purdue is of course the most can't-lose game on our schedule with the exception of SIU. With the Duke loss, MSU has become an absolute make-or-break game for our season.
The schedule after MSU is Oregon, @MD, Nebraska, @UCLA, Iowa, @Nern. I'm not banking on beating Oregon or Iowa at home, Nebraska may be coming into their own and UCLA looks pretty tough especially for a West Coast road game. Maryland and Nern look like the most gettable of these. I like our odds of getting two way more than our odds of getting three.
Absolutely CAN NOT lose to Michigan State, which is gonna be a problem because they have a commitment to running the ball and a pretty good RB.
Purdue is of course the most can't-lose game on our schedule with the exception of SIU. With the Duke loss, MSU has become an absolute make-or-break game for our season.
The schedule after MSU is Oregon, @MD, Nebraska, @UCLA, Iowa, @Nern. I'm not banking on beating Oregon or Iowa at home, Nebraska may be coming into their own and UCLA looks pretty tough especially for a West Coast road game. Maryland and Nern look like the most gettable of these. I like our odds of getting two way more than our odds of getting three.
Absolutely CAN NOT lose to Michigan State, which is gonna be a problem because they have a commitment to running the ball and a pretty good RB.
Love the chart, but one minor quibble - it should probably be adjusted to reflect spending vs your Conference peers. For example, MS State spending is high vs the total average, but lower than its SEC peers, so their expected wins should reflect that.
Collin Dixon is 6th in the nation in catches:
13th in yards:
1st in Touchdowns:
13th in yards:
1st in Touchdowns:
Bilemna has done a good job with what he has to work with. While I agree Duke should have been a win, he seems to pull more rabbits out of his hat than not. Hopefully we can win big this week and play respectfully the following. I think everyone knows who will win that game. I would never have thought that we would win this many games and go to three bowls against SEC teams and win two of them.
Now we know the genesis of the defensive problems this year (As BB has mentioned)..If this funding does not change dramatically in the near future, we will not have a top competitive team in the future regardless who is coaching.. And the fact that 7 big teams including Indiana, Northwestern, Maryland, MSU spends more than us is a real problem..
The biggest problem facing the Illinois football program is external
It is pretty clear that the Illinois football program has a problem. It is not something that a new coaching staff or an influx of transfer portal players can completely fix on their own. It is an issue that a lot of other schools are facing as well. The biggest issue facing Bret Bielema and his program is a lack of funding for roster construction.
It is pretty clear that the Illinois football program has a problem. It is not something that a new coaching staff or an influx of transfer portal players can completely fix on their own. It is an issue that a lot of other schools are facing as well. The biggest issue facing Bret Bielema and his program is a lack of funding for roster construction.
OTOH, ESPN says that colleges spent over $533 million in the last 10 years just on dead money contacts for ex-coaches, not counting recent LSU, TCU, TTU and UConn etc football firings. A guest professor on Stephen A. Smith yesterday was saying that colleges currently spend little or nothing on players and want the proposed “Save College Sports Act” so they can get all those NIL dollars for themselves. That’s in part to repay all those hasty personnel decisions, which have added over a billion $ in expenses since 2005.