Illinois Football Uniforms
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Could be because I grew up in the 90s, but I love the no outline on the numbers combined with the more traditional font.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Personally, I don’t love the two-stripe Virginia look … looks unfinished. Throw a third stripe on the sleeves and pants, and these are great!!
TheFlyingIllini1317
- Chicago, IL
I think our uniforms now are near perfect but my only gripe is the shoulder strip doesn't match the arched helmet, not that it needs to necessarily. Also, I think the outlined I on the pants is too pronounced
If we could have a neutral sleeve that accommodates both helmets and pays tribute to a logo past I think we'd have a 10/10 uniform. Sidenote, I know the Block I helmet isn't super popular but it looked amazing vs MSU. The cloud cover early really brought out the contrast of the orange and blue.
If we could have a neutral sleeve that accommodates both helmets and pays tribute to a logo past I think we'd have a 10/10 uniform. Sidenote, I know the Block I helmet isn't super popular but it looked amazing vs MSU. The cloud cover early really brought out the contrast of the orange and blue.
Cool helmet for the Packers new throwback 
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
We ought to get a royalty for this...Cool helmet for the Packers new throwback
pretty sure they engaged the same outfit to do theirs , that did ours
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Would LOVE to see a version of these with a modern/adjusted take on the sleeve stripes we used in the 1980s:
the national
- the Front Range
It Looks Like the Packers Ripped Off the Fighting Illini For Their New Throwbacks - Bleacher Nation
I'll be disappointed if the Packers don't wear their 1923-inspired throwbacks against the Bears.
www.bleachernation.com
Can’t say my mock looked like Virginia without acknowledging this idea would just be AuburnWould LOVE to see a version of these with a modern/adjusted take on the sleeve stripes we used in the 1980s:
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
It’s not that it looks like Virginia, it’s just not my personal cup of tea.
Looking like Auburn would be fine, because those look great!
chiefini
- Rockford, Illinois
Interesting tidbit. This is the only photo been able to find that shows logos on the helmet from media day with the exception of the mannequin (which had a block I). I’m staking my claim now - this’ll be the official helmet come August 29.
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- Batavia
Looks like it’s the helmet on single-game announcements too. I’m thinking it’s happening.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
^ Yeah, I think we will see Slant ILLINOIS more than any other helmet this year, especially with the white and orange jerseys. However, I cannot help but feel that there will be this stubborn and illogical feeling within the program/DIA that we "have to" wear the Block I helmet at least a couple times ... which is dumb, but that's my prediction. I also feel like Arched ILLINI will get at least one token appearance, but maybe that is just wishful thinking ... after all, it was only worn ONCE last year, when this whole carousel of helmets thing was actually a thing.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
My personal feeling is that the arched Illini helmet should be worn during the Ohio State game, as a nod to the fantastic 1983 win over the Buckeyes.
TheFlyingIllini1317
- Chicago, IL
I think it should get @IU with blue pants, homecoming vs USC and OSU. I think the most likely is homecoming vs USC.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
This is the key for me, last year was the 100th anniversary and all, and I always felt that applied to the whole season (special helmets etc.) as much as just to the Michigan game. Do we have any assurances that the helmet rotation will even continue at all?
Nothing in writing, but there’s been a lot of alluding to it.
- Ohio state game announcement specifically used the underline/slant so I’m guess that’s the call for that one.
- this preseason the offense has all had the script helmets, while defense and special teams have all had underline/slant. That was a conscious choice. That being said, Bielema gave everyone a single white stripe helmet in 2023 practices for a period of time and that was never part of the rotation. He just likes to mess around it seems so it’s hard to get a read.
- Luke posted the arched Illini helmet and the underline/slant helmet captioned “szn” asking fans to pick left or right on instagram story a couple of weeks ago. I don’t think this is actually a suggestion as to the logos though. They were two different helmet styles in what is clearly the equipment room likely indicating he is picking a new helmet shell style (which is needed - his is ugly as sin). I do think he was trolling a bit though.
- block I was used at the media day for mannequin, but Luke was pictured holding a script/slant helmet. No other photos of helmets showed logos from the whole weekend. I think that was intentional.
- slant/underline was used in a chick-fil-A commercial with Olano and Hampton. Note, Ethan Hampton had a slant/underline helmet even though his actual helmet has script on it throughout practices this year. That was intentional but may have just been for CFA marketing consistency?
- the most obvious one, in my opinion, was the media team posting 4 diffirent photos of CFB 2026 being played with different top uniforms but each had the slant/underline. The default on the game is the Block I so that was an intentional departure.
- but, Bielema loves the arched logo. It’s on everybody’s street clothes polo. It’s a navy polo with white stripes and the arched logo on the breast.
- script has been used as a font everywhere, even on the most-recent tailgating regulations document. Although it’s only shown up on the offense practice helmets, there’s a clear continued use in branding.
Tl;dr - I think they’ll use all of them in branding a WHOLE lot because they’re all gorgeous…but I think the writing is on the wall that S/L logo will be at a minimum heavily emphasized. I don’t think Script is ruled out but I would be shocked if it’s used as much as S/L. It’ll probably be a special thing. Lots of colleges do that. But I think S/L is being moved to primary.
As much as I love the script it wouldn't surprise me if that became our designated Bowl Game Helmet, making it reserved solely for the post season.
On the other hand, you could make the argument that firing bowl games you're more likely to have a more national audience so go with the lid you want people to associate most with your program/ brand.
On the other hand, you could make the argument that firing bowl games you're more likely to have a more national audience so go with the lid you want people to associate most with your program/ brand.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I agree with this, and I was kind of bummed that the OSU game was chosen for the "Orange Out." It's always a bit safer to have our Orange Out game in September in case the weather doesn't cooperate (folks will bust out their navy coats real fast if it's cold!), and I really was hoping we'd rock this look for the OSU game (ideally at night!).
It actually looks like we wore O/B/O for the 1983 win vs. OSU, but for some reason the O/B/B look with that Arched ILLINI helmet seems quintessential 1980s Illini to me.
EDIT: I was also thinking that I really do not have a pulse on what Bret and the staff/team like as far as uniforms go.
I would only feel comfortable predicting the following uniform and helmet combos with relative certainty:at Duke
vs. Ohio State (Orange Out)
The rest is a total crapshoot, IMO, at least when you include the helmets as a variable.
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Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I was thinking this, too, but I just saw our social media post another picture of a player in O/B/O and the Script helmet ... I would be surprised if we waited to use it again until the bowl game now, which is sort of the opposite of how I felt yesterday.
This is my updated wild stab at what we choose to wear through the OSU game. I mostly went with what I thought would happen, with ONE pretty obvious exception of what I HOPE will happen ... gotta be an optimist!!vs. Western Illinois ... confidence level medium. I think they'll wear the "Citrus Bowl uniform" to kick things off this year.
at Duke ... confidence level VERY high. This seemed to really find a home as our go-to road uniform last season.
vs. Western Michigan ... confidence level medium. Could be Block I or the Script again, but I feel like this staff loves Slant ILLINOIS, and we surprisingly have never worn it with the navy yet!
at Indiana ... confidence level so low that it is almost certainly wishful thinking, but I'll proclaim that we FINALLY get #BPOTR (and I'll spam them every day leading up to it just to make sure!
). However, I think they stick with Slant ILLINOIS over the Arched ILLINI look.vs. USC (Homecoming) ... confidence level medium. 99% sure Homecoming will feature the standard O/B/O, but the helmet is anyone's guess. When in doubt, assume Bret chooses Slant ILLINOIS.
at Purdue ... confidence level medium. The confidence level for O/W/O is pretty high, but the Script helmet is the less-sure aspect.
vs. Ohio State (Orange Out) ... confidence level VERY high. We wore a version of Slant ILLINOIS both times we busted out the orange uniforms last year, and I would be absolutely shocked if we didn't decided to once again pair it with the orange pants instead of (my preferred) white.
So my hottest takes here are definitely...
1. The staff finally gives us #BPOTR at Indiana.
2. We don't see the Block I helmet until after the OSU game (I will guess we give it a pity turn vs. Rutgers).
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