Illini Football 2026
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
I can attest. The stadium was rockin’ back then. Even had an overflow crowd for the Ohio state game in the Assembly Hall watching the game on closed circuit TV
Art Sitkowski seems like a big part of the transfer qb renaissance. Selfishly I really want him to stay around for a very long time, but I'm also wondering if he is getting a lot of calls to branch out on his own with a lower OC job?
Neidermeyer
- Faber College
I bet we did in the D back area. Anticipating them to be lights out. One has been for sure - the other 2 have struggled. Hopefully this change in D helps them return to their former level of play.
I'd keep him until Lunney leaves and make him OC. Think he's on that type of trajectory and after mismanaging having Scheelhaase staying as coach/eventually being OC, I'd make this happen eventually.
That environment at the stadium and on campus for that Michigan Game lasted until Sunday afternoon.
Illini in Italy
- Illini HQ, Florida Panhandle
That was my first year at Illinois, and not being from the state I thought Illinois football had always been that good. What a season! Alas, decades of striving to attain mediocrity showed me the reality of Illinois football. Josh & Bret have brought us to be above average, and I'm looking forward to many years of improvement to be great!
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
I remember Bielema saying after that game that he wanted to get to a point where a victory over Charlotte was seen as taking care of business instead of leading to a ton of excitement over just getting a win. What a difference 5 years makes, even if this year has its bumps!
Right after that game, we probably had the worst Illini offensive performance I’ve ever seen (against Wisconsin). Yes, I’m aware that’s a high bar, and it was that bad.
And right after Wisconsin, we beat Penn State.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
So jealous. It has been awesome to see the ABSURD transformation of our gameday environment from sleepy crowds of 35k pre-Bret to genuinely loud and rowdy crowds for games like 2024 Kansas, 2024 Michigan, 2025 USC, etc. However, we still have a ways to go. I can't remember who said it, but a poster here once referenced that some Big Ten coach in the 1980s actually said he felt Illinois was the most intimidating place to play. Imagine someone saying that now! We can get into that discussion if we keep stacking sellouts and decent seasons, and I will be so happy when I feel we have made it to that mountain top! I don't think a lot of fans appreciate just how much a "special atmosphere" can augment the size of our fan base during tough times and just generally elevate the perceived status of Illini Football with recruits, viewers, potential fans, etc. Hell, I'm a Cubs fan, and I would go to Wrigley literally no matter how horrible the team is just because it's one of a kind.
Also, somewhat OT, but I randomly thought again today how much I hate that we are forever paired with Northwestern as our ~rival~ in everything, and each new generation of Illini fans will put up even less resistance to this setup that is spoon fed to us by suits in Rosemont. So, I wanted to look at who we played for our final Big Ten home game throughout the years. Weird / one-off things like the December home game vs. Fresno State in 2009 or the weird COVID season will be ignored for an apples-to-apples analysis.
2026 - at Northwestern
2025 - vs. Northwestern
2024 - at Northwestern (Wrigley Field)
2023 - vs. Northwestern
2022 - at Northwestern
2021 - vs. Northwestern
2020 - N/A
2019 - vs. Northwestern
2018 - at Northwestern
2017 - vs. Northwestern
2016 - at Northwestern
2015 - vs. Northwestern (Soldier Field)
2014 - at Northwestern
2013 - vs. Northwestern
2012 - at Northwestern
2011 - at Minnesota
2010 - at Northwestern (Wrigley Field)
2009 - N/A
2008 - at Northwestern
2007 - vs. Northwestern
2006 - at Northwestern
2005 - vs. Northwestern
2004 - at Northwestern
2003 - vs. Northwestern
2002 - at Northwestern
2001 - vs. Northwestern
2000 - at Northwestern
1999 - vs. Northwestern
1998 - at Michigan State
1997 - vs. Michigan State
1996 - vs. Wisconsin
1995 - at Wisconsin
1994 - at Wisconsin
1993 - vs. Wisconsin
1992 - vs. Michigan State
1991 - at Michigan State
1990 - vs. Northwestern
1989 - at Northwestern
1988 - vs. Northwestern
1987 - at Northwestern
1986 - vs. Northwestern
1985 - at Northwestern
1984 - vs. Indiana (Hoosier Dome)
1983 - at Northwestern
1982 - at Indiana
1981 - at Northwestern
1980 - at Indiana
1979 - at Northwestern
1978 - at Minnesota
1977 - at Northwestern
1976 - vs. Northwestern
1975 - at Northwestern
1974 - vs. Northwestern
1973 - at Northwestern
1972 - at Iowa
1971 - vs. Iowa
1970 - at Iowa
1969 - vs. Iowa
1968 - vs. Iowa
1967 - at Iowa
1966 - at Northwestern
1965 - at Northwestern
1964 - vs. Michigan State
1963 - at Michigan State
1962 - vs. Michigan State
1961 - at Michigan State
Okay, so for anyone who was around during these years, I have some questions.
1. Why were there so many stretches where we always ended the season on the road? Was that related to the IHSA football playoffs? If so, I would honesty favor this returning as a tradition. The Thanksgiving Weekend crowd always seems uniquely underwhelming for us compared to other schools (even in years where we have good attendance), and it could become a quirky and unique tradition that Illinois always wraps up its home season earlier than others ... like how the Reds always used to (and still SHOULD!) get to play at home on Opening Day.
2. Why did we move what appeared to be our home game vs. Indiana in 1984 to ... the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis?! If we were drying for a neutral site, it seems one in our state would make more sense, lol...
3. What was the deal with the 1990s? It seems we had a broad pattern of mostly playing NU before then but it was hardly set in stone, and then since 1999 it's been nearly every year ... but the 1990s seemed like the Big Ten was just trying stuff out, lol.
4. Based on my Google search, the break in the Illini / Iowa series was from 1952 to 1966, and then we immediately had them slated as our final opponent in 1967. This setup would continue for the next 5 years. Why did this fizzle out?? It would have been so much better for us if Iowa was our final opponent of the year. And if you really think about it, before the Illinois / Northwestern series got so entrenched as the final game, Illinois / Iowa would have made a ton of sense in the pre-PSU Big Ten. It seems the following were the obvious ones, which took up 60% of the league:
--- Michigan vs. Ohio State
--- Indiana vs. Purdue
--- Minnesota vs. Wisconsin
And that left Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State and Northwestern. SOMEONE was going to have a "forced" rivalry, why on Earth couldn't we have shipped NU off to East Lansing and started an awesome rivalry with Iowa?! Obviously, the nail in this coffin was solidified when the Big Ten added Nebraska ... but this would have been so much better, and the conference was clearly at least somewhat pushing it for a while!
If you made me Emperor of College Sports, you'd get these "Rivalry Weekend" matchups, and I would ignore the tears of the teams that are not Illinois if they don't like their matchup, because WE don't like ours now!
Michigan vs. Ohio State (duh)
Indiana vs. Purdue (duh)
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota (duh)
UCLA vs. USC (duh)
Washington vs. Oregon (duh)
...
Illinois vs. Iowa (cry about it, everyone else!)
Nebraska vs. Penn State (Nebraska fans always complained that Iowa was somehow beneath them for their Black Friday game ... okay, here's PSU!)
Maryland vs. Rutgers (only East Coast teams, no other reasoning)
Michigan State vs. Northwestern (mostly just the leftovers, but hey ... Pat Fitz angle now!)
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Chase would just bounce off and break tackles over and over that’s why he’s in the NFL
mhuml32
Gesture of Northern Aggression
So jealous. It has been awesome to see the ABSURD transformation of our gameday environment from sleepy crowds of 35k pre-Bret to genuinely loud and rowdy crowds for games like 2024 Kansas, 2024 Michigan, 2025 USC, etc. However, we still have a ways to go. I can't remember who said it, but a poster here once referenced that some Big Ten coach in the 1980s actually said he felt Illinois was the most intimidating place to play. Imagine someone saying that now! We can get into that discussion if we keep stacking sellouts and decent seasons, and I will be so happy when I feel we have made it to that mountain top! I don't think a lot of fans appreciate just how much a "special atmosphere" can augment the size of our fan base during tough times and just generally elevate the perceived status of Illini Football with recruits, viewers, potential fans, etc. Hell, I'm a Cubs fan, and I would go to Wrigley literally no matter how horrible the team is just because it's one of a kind.
Also, somewhat OT, but I randomly thought again today how much I hate that we are forever paired with Northwestern as our ~rival~ in everything, and each new generation of Illini fans will put up even less resistance to this setup that is spoon fed to us by suits in Rosemont. So, I wanted to look at who we played for our final Big Ten home game throughout the years. Weird / one-off things like the December home game vs. Fresno State in 2009 or the weird COVID season will be ignored for an apples-to-apples analysis.
2026 - at Northwestern
2025 - vs. Northwestern
2024 - at Northwestern (Wrigley Field)
2023 - vs. Northwestern
2022 - at Northwestern
2021 - vs. Northwestern
2020 - N/A
2019 - vs. Northwestern
2018 - at Northwestern
2017 - vs. Northwestern
2016 - at Northwestern
2015 - vs. Northwestern (Soldier Field)
2014 - at Northwestern
2013 - vs. Northwestern
2012 - at Northwestern
2011 - at Minnesota
2010 - at Northwestern (Wrigley Field)
2009 - N/A
2008 - at Northwestern
2007 - vs. Northwestern
2006 - at Northwestern
2005 - vs. Northwestern
2004 - at Northwestern
2003 - vs. Northwestern
2002 - at Northwestern
2001 - vs. Northwestern
2000 - at Northwestern
1999 - vs. Northwestern
1998 - at Michigan State
1997 - vs. Michigan State
1996 - vs. Wisconsin
1995 - at Wisconsin
1994 - at Wisconsin
1993 - vs. Wisconsin
1992 - vs. Michigan State
1991 - at Michigan State
1990 - vs. Northwestern
1989 - at Northwestern
1988 - vs. Northwestern
1987 - at Northwestern
1986 - vs. Northwestern
1985 - at Northwestern
1984 - vs. Indiana (Hoosier Dome)
1983 - at Northwestern
1982 - at Indiana
1981 - at Northwestern
1980 - at Indiana
1979 - at Northwestern
1978 - at Minnesota
1977 - at Northwestern
1976 - vs. Northwestern
1975 - at Northwestern
1974 - vs. Northwestern
1973 - at Northwestern
1972 - at Iowa
1971 - vs. Iowa
1970 - at Iowa
1969 - vs. Iowa
1968 - vs. Iowa
1967 - at Iowa
1966 - at Northwestern
1965 - at Northwestern
1964 - vs. Michigan State
1963 - at Michigan State
1962 - vs. Michigan State
1961 - at Michigan State
Okay, so for anyone who was around during these years, I have some questions.
1. Why were there so many stretches where we always ended the season on the road? Was that related to the IHSA football playoffs? If so, I would honesty favor this returning as a tradition. The Thanksgiving Weekend crowd always seems uniquely underwhelming for us compared to other schools (even in years where we have good attendance), and it could become a quirky and unique tradition that Illinois always wraps up its home season earlier than others ... like how the Reds always used to (and still SHOULD!) get to play at home on Opening Day.
2. Why did we move what appeared to be our home game vs. Indiana in 1984 to ... the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis?! If we were drying for a neutral site, it seems one in our state would make more sense, lol...
3. What was the deal with the 1990s? It seems we had a broad pattern of mostly playing NU before then but it was hardly set in stone, and then since 1999 it's been nearly every year ... but the 1990s seemed like the Big Ten was just trying stuff out, lol.
4. Based on my Google search, the break in the Illini / Iowa series was from 1952 to 1966, and then we immediately had them slated as our final opponent in 1967. This setup would continue for the next 5 years. Why did this fizzle out?? It would have been so much better for us if Iowa was our final opponent of the year. And if you really think about it, before the Illinois / Northwestern series got so entrenched as the final game, Illinois / Iowa would have made a ton of sense in the pre-PSU Big Ten. It seems the following were the obvious ones, which took up 60% of the league:
--- Michigan vs. Ohio State
--- Indiana vs. Purdue
--- Minnesota vs. Wisconsin
And that left Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State and Northwestern. SOMEONE was going to have a "forced" rivalry, why on Earth couldn't we have shipped NU off to East Lansing and started an awesome rivalry with Iowa?! Obviously, the nail in this coffin was solidified when the Big Ten added Nebraska ... but this would have been so much better, and the conference was clearly at least somewhat pushing it for a while!
If you made me Emperor of College Sports, you'd get these "Rivalry Weekend" matchups, and I would ignore the tears of the teams that are not Illinois if they don't like their matchup, because WE don't like ours now!
Michigan vs. Ohio State (duh)
Indiana vs. Purdue (duh)
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota (duh)
UCLA vs. USC (duh)
Washington vs. Oregon (duh)
...
Illinois vs. Iowa (cry about it, everyone else!)
Nebraska vs. Penn State (Nebraska fans always complained that Iowa was somehow beneath them for their Black Friday game ... okay, here's PSU!)
Maryland vs. Rutgers (only East Coast teams, no other reasoning)
Michigan State vs. Northwestern (mostly just the leftovers, but hey ... Pat Fitz angle now!)
My solution is not to change the rivals, but Big Ten should have two rivalry weekends. Keep the final weekend as one, but pick another for Halloween weekend or another date so you can spread out your high-watch games over two weeks instead of one. Also, the final week is continually losing steam because the playoff is so big now that there are few regular season stakes. You can keep Michigan v Ohio State in that final weekend because of tradition, but it would give you a chance to have The Axe in better weather and better TV placement.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
That's actually a very solid idea, and I feel like other conferences do this way better. Games like Texas-Oklahoma, Florida-Georgia, Auburn-Georgia, etc. are usually always played around the same time. If we just took this year's planned "Rivalry Weekend" matchups in the Big Ten, it looks like this:
Friday, November 27
Nebraska at Iowa
Minnesota at Wisconsin
Saturday, November 28
Michigan at Ohio State
USC at UCLA
Washington at Oregon
Purdue at Indiana
Illinois at Northwestern
Penn State at Maryland
Michigan State at Rutgers
It would possibly involve increasing the number of protected rivalries (which I would argue most fans would LOVE, though there'd be a minority squawking about fairness / balanced schedules, lol...), but you could easily arrange these alternative rivalries for Halloween weekend. It wouldn't be perfect and some matchups would be weird / forced, but those teams would just have a normal frickin' week of conference play as it is now!
Michigan vs. Michigan State
Ohio State vs. Penn State
Oregon vs. USC
UCLA vs. Washington
Illinois vs. Purdue*
Iowa vs. Wisconsin*
Minnesota vs. Nebraska (this is actually a trophy game, by the way!)
Indiana vs. Maryland (regular conference game)
Northwestern vs. Rutgers (regular conference game)
* I REALLY wanted to make our matchup with Iowa for this weekend, but I will admit it works out better logistically to pair us with Purdue and them with Wisconsin, haha ... but I'd love to swap those.
I can confirm the ghost town part. On Dads’ Day in 1975 I didn’t order tix for the OSU game because he originally didn’t know if he could come. So when he arrived on game day we were able to get tix at the 35 yard line in the east front row. Even better, Archie Griffin made a sharp cut near the sideline in front of us and it was so quiet that we could hear the grass rip!
Fast forward to 1983 and it was so packed and noisy at the MI game that you couldn’t hear the person next to you (but it could have been due to ice in my ears; it was cold). Tearing down the goal posts for a championship in front of MI and Schembechler was sweet revenge for the ‘70’s.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Okay, with the Cannon game coming up tomorrow ... what are your CURRENT Big Ten hate tiers? I was never as in to hating Purdue, but sitting in the freezing cold and watching them steal our Big Ten Championship Game hopes in 2022 while their obnoxious fans were complete clowns definitely elevated them for me, lol.
Tier 1 - Genuine Hate
- Michigan (I always rooted for them vs. OSU before they got good again, but WOW do I hate them now, haha...)
- Ohio State
- Indiana (more recent, but it was easy to adapt!)
Tier 2 - Genuine Dislike
- Iowa (I at least have some respect for their program over the last 25+ years)
- Purdue (again, this is mostly post-2022 for me)
- Wisconsin (I feel like the fact they've been sort of meh in the last 5+ years has injected zero humility into that fan base)
Tier 3 - Mild Dislike
- USC (I find them a VERY easy program to dislike, even though we don't feel "close" enough to them for true hatred to form)
- Northwestern (a weird paradox where I simultaneously just don't care that much but also find them really annoying and don't ever want them to be good)
- Michigan State (I feel like every couple years they do something hateworthy in one sport or another, and then I forget about them again)
- Nebraska (probably influenced by me having a bunch of Iowa friends, but I literally can't stand the online myth that they are these uniquely nice and classy fans ... go read their board, they spew hate the second you don't kiss the ring and accept their delusional reality where they're a Blue Blood)
- Penn State (my hate from after the scandal has mostly died down, but I do get annoyed by how entitled their fans seem to be when their history really doesn't back it up...)
Tier 4 - Mostly Indifferent
- Oregon (I find them obnoxious, but I can't say I "dislike" them)
- Maryland (they do kind of rub me the wrong way, though...)
- Minnesota (shocking how little I care about them given they're a longtime conference member)
Tier 5 - Totally Indifferent
- UCLA (love their colors, and you almost have to just feel bad for them a bit with the setup they have of an off-campus stadium, being dominated by USC, etc.)
- Rutgers (I actually empathize with them a lot ... their New York is our Chicago, their Philadelphia is our St. Louis, we are both in pro sports states, etc.)
- Washington (I've heard the actual students can be insufferable and the opposite of down to Earth but what a beautiful stadium and great color scheme)
If we open it up to non-conference, the only team I truly despise is Notre Dame (and their bandwagon fans who probably ditch the Irish when it's time for basketball season and bandwagon Duke or something). It's becoming easier to have almost zero respect for LSU as an athletic program, but it's also sort of almost a funny meme at this point. Can't say I care for South Carolina or Tennessee after our bowl encounters, haha.
Tier 1 - Genuine Hate
- Michigan (I always rooted for them vs. OSU before they got good again, but WOW do I hate them now, haha...)
- Ohio State
- Indiana (more recent, but it was easy to adapt!)
Tier 2 - Genuine Dislike
- Iowa (I at least have some respect for their program over the last 25+ years)
- Purdue (again, this is mostly post-2022 for me)
- Wisconsin (I feel like the fact they've been sort of meh in the last 5+ years has injected zero humility into that fan base)
Tier 3 - Mild Dislike
- USC (I find them a VERY easy program to dislike, even though we don't feel "close" enough to them for true hatred to form)
- Northwestern (a weird paradox where I simultaneously just don't care that much but also find them really annoying and don't ever want them to be good)
- Michigan State (I feel like every couple years they do something hateworthy in one sport or another, and then I forget about them again)
- Nebraska (probably influenced by me having a bunch of Iowa friends, but I literally can't stand the online myth that they are these uniquely nice and classy fans ... go read their board, they spew hate the second you don't kiss the ring and accept their delusional reality where they're a Blue Blood)
- Penn State (my hate from after the scandal has mostly died down, but I do get annoyed by how entitled their fans seem to be when their history really doesn't back it up...)
Tier 4 - Mostly Indifferent
- Oregon (I find them obnoxious, but I can't say I "dislike" them)
- Maryland (they do kind of rub me the wrong way, though...)
- Minnesota (shocking how little I care about them given they're a longtime conference member)
Tier 5 - Totally Indifferent
- UCLA (love their colors, and you almost have to just feel bad for them a bit with the setup they have of an off-campus stadium, being dominated by USC, etc.)
- Rutgers (I actually empathize with them a lot ... their New York is our Chicago, their Philadelphia is our St. Louis, we are both in pro sports states, etc.)
- Washington (I've heard the actual students can be insufferable and the opposite of down to Earth but what a beautiful stadium and great color scheme)
If we open it up to non-conference, the only team I truly despise is Notre Dame (and their bandwagon fans who probably ditch the Irish when it's time for basketball season and bandwagon Duke or something). It's becoming easier to have almost zero respect for LSU as an athletic program, but it's also sort of almost a funny meme at this point. Can't say I care for South Carolina or Tennessee after our bowl encounters, haha.
This is decent for me. I don't have a reason to Genuinely Hate OSU though, except them always being good.
Solid analysis.
But I think you have Ohio State a bit too high and Penn State far too low.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
My list is probably a bit simpler. For football:
Don’t like:
- Michigan
- Iowa
- Purdue
- Wisconsin
- Penn St
- Northwestern
Don’t care:
- UCLA
- USC
- Washington
- Minnesota
- Maryland
- Michigan St
- Rutgers
Do like:
- Oregon
- Ohio St
- Indiana
I know I should hate all 3 out of envy, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.
Oregon and Ohio St, I look at them as basically playing a different sport + someone’s gotta be good enough to take down the SEC. I just don’t see either as direct competition to us.
And Indiana, I don’t know, I’m inspired by what they’ve done. They’re a beacon of hope to every middling P4 program in the country.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
This is all very fair, and I could be persuaded to take up this POV, honestly. My "hatred" for Ohio State is honestly pretty leftover from when I was a kid, and on second thought I would take them as the standard bearer for the conference any day over Michigan (it seems Michigan has just become exponentially more unbearable since 2020 or so). Solid point on Indiana, too ... if they can go from the worst program ever to having one of the best teams of all-time, that is a story that it is hard to hate on. It's pretty much just basketball hate spilling over and a lot of jealousy that it was THEM that broke through like this.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
2 & 4: no ideaSo jealous. It has been awesome to see the ABSURD transformation of our gameday environment from sleepy crowds of 35k pre-Bret to genuinely loud and rowdy crowds for games like 2024 Kansas, 2024 Michigan, 2025 USC, etc. However, we still have a ways to go. I can't remember who said it, but a poster here once referenced that some Big Ten coach in the 1980s actually said he felt Illinois was the most intimidating place to play. Imagine someone saying that now! We can get into that discussion if we keep stacking sellouts and decent seasons, and I will be so happy when I feel we have made it to that mountain top! I don't think a lot of fans appreciate just how much a "special atmosphere" can augment the size of our fan base during tough times and just generally elevate the perceived status of Illini Football with recruits, viewers, potential fans, etc. Hell, I'm a Cubs fan, and I would go to Wrigley literally no matter how horrible the team is just because it's one of a kind.
Also, somewhat OT, but I randomly thought again today how much I hate that we are forever paired with Northwestern as our ~rival~ in everything, and each new generation of Illini fans will put up even less resistance to this setup that is spoon fed to us by suits in Rosemont. So, I wanted to look at who we played for our final Big Ten home game throughout the years. Weird / one-off things like the December home game vs. Fresno State in 2009 or the weird COVID season will be ignored for an apples-to-apples analysis.
2026 - at Northwestern
2025 - vs. Northwestern
2024 - at Northwestern (Wrigley Field)
2023 - vs. Northwestern
2022 - at Northwestern
2021 - vs. Northwestern
2020 - N/A
2019 - vs. Northwestern
2018 - at Northwestern
2017 - vs. Northwestern
2016 - at Northwestern
2015 - vs. Northwestern (Soldier Field)
2014 - at Northwestern
2013 - vs. Northwestern
2012 - at Northwestern
2011 - at Minnesota
2010 - at Northwestern (Wrigley Field)
2009 - N/A
2008 - at Northwestern
2007 - vs. Northwestern
2006 - at Northwestern
2005 - vs. Northwestern
2004 - at Northwestern
2003 - vs. Northwestern
2002 - at Northwestern
2001 - vs. Northwestern
2000 - at Northwestern
1999 - vs. Northwestern
1998 - at Michigan State
1997 - vs. Michigan State
1996 - vs. Wisconsin
1995 - at Wisconsin
1994 - at Wisconsin
1993 - vs. Wisconsin
1992 - vs. Michigan State
1991 - at Michigan State
1990 - vs. Northwestern
1989 - at Northwestern
1988 - vs. Northwestern
1987 - at Northwestern
1986 - vs. Northwestern
1985 - at Northwestern
1984 - vs. Indiana (Hoosier Dome)
1983 - at Northwestern
1982 - at Indiana
1981 - at Northwestern
1980 - at Indiana
1979 - at Northwestern
1978 - at Minnesota
1977 - at Northwestern
1976 - vs. Northwestern
1975 - at Northwestern
1974 - vs. Northwestern
1973 - at Northwestern
1972 - at Iowa
1971 - vs. Iowa
1970 - at Iowa
1969 - vs. Iowa
1968 - vs. Iowa
1967 - at Iowa
1966 - at Northwestern
1965 - at Northwestern
1964 - vs. Michigan State
1963 - at Michigan State
1962 - vs. Michigan State
1961 - at Michigan State
Okay, so for anyone who was around during these years, I have some questions.
1. Why were there so many stretches where we always ended the season on the road? Was that related to the IHSA football playoffs? If so, I would honesty favor this returning as a tradition. The Thanksgiving Weekend crowd always seems uniquely underwhelming for us compared to other schools (even in years where we have good attendance), and it could become a quirky and unique tradition that Illinois always wraps up its home season earlier than others ... like how the Reds always used to (and still SHOULD!) get to play at home on Opening Day.
2. Why did we move what appeared to be our home game vs. Indiana in 1984 to ... the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis?! If we were drying for a neutral site, it seems one in our state would make more sense, lol...
3. What was the deal with the 1990s? It seems we had a broad pattern of mostly playing NU before then but it was hardly set in stone, and then since 1999 it's been nearly every year ... but the 1990s seemed like the Big Ten was just trying stuff out, lol.
4. Based on my Google search, the break in the Illini / Iowa series was from 1952 to 1966, and then we immediately had them slated as our final opponent in 1967. This setup would continue for the next 5 years. Why did this fizzle out?? It would have been so much better for us if Iowa was our final opponent of the year. And if you really think about it, before the Illinois / Northwestern series got so entrenched as the final game, Illinois / Iowa would have made a ton of sense in the pre-PSU Big Ten. It seems the following were the obvious ones, which took up 60% of the league:
--- Michigan vs. Ohio State
--- Indiana vs. Purdue
--- Minnesota vs. Wisconsin
And that left Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State and Northwestern. SOMEONE was going to have a "forced" rivalry, why on Earth couldn't we have shipped NU off to East Lansing and started an awesome rivalry with Iowa?! Obviously, the nail in this coffin was solidified when the Big Ten added Nebraska ... but this would have been so much better, and the conference was clearly at least somewhat pushing it for a while!
If you made me Emperor of College Sports, you'd get these "Rivalry Weekend" matchups, and I would ignore the tears of the teams that are not Illinois if they don't like their matchup, because WE don't like ours now!
Michigan vs. Ohio State (duh)
Indiana vs. Purdue (duh)
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota (duh)
UCLA vs. USC (duh)
Washington vs. Oregon (duh)
...
Illinois vs. Iowa (cry about it, everyone else!)
Nebraska vs. Penn State (Nebraska fans always complained that Iowa was somehow beneath them for their Black Friday game ... okay, here's PSU!)
Maryland vs. Rutgers (only East Coast teams, no other reasoning)
Michigan State vs. Northwestern (mostly just the leftovers, but hey ... Pat Fitz angle now!)
1: yes the IHSA playoff conflicts around TG
3: we were perceived nationally and in the Big Ten as a better program then, after the 80s run and with a name like Mackovic running things. Before and after that we were an also-ran who matched up perfectly with a lousy NW program...of course they then took off starting with Barnett
Illini92and96
- Austin, TX
Hate: Michigan, Iowa, and Notre Dame (not in the big, but they still deserve the hate)
Genuine dislike: Indiana. It's worse now that they are good in football, but basketball seems to be becoming irrelevant
Mild dislike: NW, USC
Indifferent: The rest. OSU doesn't bother me. Internally I don't like how dominant they are, but externally they earn the BIG a lot of respect.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
Might echo some of what others have said (and this is the football thread but some hoops and miscellaneous feelings will probably seep in)...overall team listing is in order from most disliked to most indifferent.
Tier 1: I Hate the word Hate but don't think any Gentler word would work
- Michigan: arrogance, cheating, and scandal the entirety of my existence
- Notre Dame (honorary): less scandal than Michigan but twice the arrogance
Tier 2: Meteor strike please, unless said Meteor can be diverted to Ann Arbor
- Ohio State: pure jealousy, but not Tier 1 because for a significant stretch of my young adulthood, we consistently beat them
- Purdue: long-term family reasons plus shorter-term Walters reasons
- Penn State: Michigan-like entitlement and scandal and scandal cover-ups
Tier 3: Must dislike because you are a B1G opponent, but less vitriol than Tiers above
- Michigan State: racing fast as they can to match big brother's scandal level (paging Dr. Nassar)
- Northwestern: you were always supposed to stink, as in "at least we're not as bad as Northwestern"
- Indiana: a touch of the NW feeling plus of course the recent success
- Iowa: old-school Pearl-related loathing softened by respect for what Ferentz et al has maintained for many years.
- Oregon: new (and good) kid on the block envy
Tier 4: Fun to watch, or recent Illini success against them, or other reason for mild dislike at best
- Nebraska: schadenfreude watching them fall from grace
- USC: would be higher if we didn't beat them last year
- Wisconsin: I love the state as a quick & easy vacation destination and the school vicariously gets some of that carryover feeling
- Minnesota: meh
- Washington: not enough history yet
Tier 5: Why are You in my Conference, please Exit through the Gift Shop
- UCLA
- Maryland
- Rutgers