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Your Dream Illini Football Schedule
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<blockquote data-quote="mhuml32" data-source="post: 1935077" data-attributes="member: 3621"><p>#1 - love this question, we need more fun threads like this on here.</p><p>#2 - dream schedule would include no road games but that isn't fun, so I include a schedule with 5 home - 4 road to make it more realistic</p><p></p><p>My schedule:</p><p></p><p>August 25th (Week <strong>0</strong>) - <em><strong>New Mexico</strong></em>. Play a buy game against a Mountain West team so you can schedule a Week 0 game, gain a second bye during the season. New Mexico has failed to win more than three games since 2017, only two winning seasons in the last 15 years. Also scheduled this to be on Friday of week 0 to give Illinois an extra day of rest/prep before week 1.</p><p></p><p>September 2nd (Week 1) - <em><strong>Michigan State</strong></em>. Early season home B1G games have been kind to Illinois, plus I love the SEC model of having one patsy late in the season when your team has injuries mounting and you need a freebie in midst of the toughest portion of your schedule. Michigan State hasn't been an early game in the schedule (ever?).</p><p></p><p>September 9th (Week 2) - <em><strong>Stanford</strong></em>. Played frequently in the 70's and 80's, haven't played them since 1984. Creates the Pac-10 connection. A team trending downward but still has brand value. Do their fans travel? Seems unlikely. A home-and-home sweep would provide Illinois a chance to even up the series (currently 4-6).</p><p></p><p>September 16th (Week 3) - <em>BYE</em>. The benefit of having two byes. Allows the team to reset and prep for the upcoming B1G schedule. Plus, Illinois has traditionally struggled for first road game. This would allow everyone to have four weeks of the season to get acclimated before leaving the state.</p><p></p><p>September 22nd (Week 4) - <strong>@</strong><em><strong>Indiana</strong></em>. Put this game on a Friday to maximize your bye benefits over a two week period. Revenge is needed in Bloomington. Would be the shortest road trip possible, optimal for first road game.</p><p></p><p>September 30th (Week 5) - <em><strong>@Nebraska</strong></em>. Properly aligned with harvest season. Need to make this a corn named rivalry, plenty of sponsorship opportunities. Fun stadium to play in. Would knock out a second road B1G while the weather is still decent.</p><p></p><p>October 7th (Week 6) - <em><strong>Wisconsin</strong></em>. Both teams in mid-season form. Would love for this game to elevate in importance because of the Bielema connection. Would give Illinois a good look at hosting GameDay because early October is when games start to heat up.</p><p></p><p>October 14th (Week 7) - <em><strong>Minnesota</strong></em>. Bielema has never lost to Minnesota. Love this being the matchup going into the bye week.</p><p></p><p>October 21st (Week 8) - <em>BYE</em>. Usually one of the most packed CFB matchup weekends of the year. Illinois football can take a week to rest up and watch the carnage around them.</p><p></p><p>October 27th (Week 9) - <em><strong>@Purdue</strong></em>. Illinois has a better record against Purdue in West Lafayette than Champaign. Also feels like the perfect time to play for The Cannon. They seem determined to do plenty of passing, so let's make push this game later in the year when their offensive philosophy becomes more difficult to execute. Also putting this game on a Friday after the bye week (explained above) in hopes of giving Purdue a short week and Illinois plenty of prep time.</p><p></p><p>November 4th (Week 10) - <em><strong>Michigan</strong></em>. Lots of history here. Revenge from last year's game. Should be one of the last weeks where students are fully packed on campus. Measuring stick game. Extra day of rest going into this game (you know Michigan is not willing to play on Fridays).</p><p></p><p>November 11th (Week 11) - <em><strong>Illinois State</strong></em>. In-state FCS team. Perfect time right after the Michigan game. Opportunity to give lots of guys reps. Happy to swap this one out for EIU, WIU, or Missouri State.</p><p></p><p>November 18th (Week 12) - <em><strong>Iowa</strong></em>. Opportunity to rest starters the week before. Final home game of the year against a hated rival (right before they play Nebraska). Lots of juice for this one.</p><p></p><p>November 25th (Week 13) - <em><strong>@Northwestern</strong></em>. Happy to keep this game where it is. NW has a dark road ahead of it, would appreciate ending the season on a high note for the foreseeable future. Not afraid to play in Evanston.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mhuml32, post: 1935077, member: 3621"] #1 - love this question, we need more fun threads like this on here. #2 - dream schedule would include no road games but that isn't fun, so I include a schedule with 5 home - 4 road to make it more realistic My schedule: August 25th (Week [B]0[/B]) - [I][B]New Mexico[/B][/I]. Play a buy game against a Mountain West team so you can schedule a Week 0 game, gain a second bye during the season. New Mexico has failed to win more than three games since 2017, only two winning seasons in the last 15 years. Also scheduled this to be on Friday of week 0 to give Illinois an extra day of rest/prep before week 1. September 2nd (Week 1) - [I][B]Michigan State[/B][/I]. Early season home B1G games have been kind to Illinois, plus I love the SEC model of having one patsy late in the season when your team has injuries mounting and you need a freebie in midst of the toughest portion of your schedule. Michigan State hasn't been an early game in the schedule (ever?). September 9th (Week 2) - [I][B]Stanford[/B][/I]. Played frequently in the 70's and 80's, haven't played them since 1984. Creates the Pac-10 connection. A team trending downward but still has brand value. Do their fans travel? Seems unlikely. A home-and-home sweep would provide Illinois a chance to even up the series (currently 4-6). September 16th (Week 3) - [I]BYE[/I]. The benefit of having two byes. Allows the team to reset and prep for the upcoming B1G schedule. Plus, Illinois has traditionally struggled for first road game. This would allow everyone to have four weeks of the season to get acclimated before leaving the state. September 22nd (Week 4) - [B]@[/B][I][B]Indiana[/B][/I]. Put this game on a Friday to maximize your bye benefits over a two week period. Revenge is needed in Bloomington. Would be the shortest road trip possible, optimal for first road game. September 30th (Week 5) - [I][B]@Nebraska[/B][/I]. Properly aligned with harvest season. Need to make this a corn named rivalry, plenty of sponsorship opportunities. Fun stadium to play in. Would knock out a second road B1G while the weather is still decent. October 7th (Week 6) - [I][B]Wisconsin[/B][/I]. Both teams in mid-season form. Would love for this game to elevate in importance because of the Bielema connection. Would give Illinois a good look at hosting GameDay because early October is when games start to heat up. October 14th (Week 7) - [I][B]Minnesota[/B][/I]. Bielema has never lost to Minnesota. Love this being the matchup going into the bye week. October 21st (Week 8) - [I]BYE[/I]. Usually one of the most packed CFB matchup weekends of the year. Illinois football can take a week to rest up and watch the carnage around them. October 27th (Week 9) - [I][B]@Purdue[/B][/I]. Illinois has a better record against Purdue in West Lafayette than Champaign. Also feels like the perfect time to play for The Cannon. They seem determined to do plenty of passing, so let's make push this game later in the year when their offensive philosophy becomes more difficult to execute. Also putting this game on a Friday after the bye week (explained above) in hopes of giving Purdue a short week and Illinois plenty of prep time. November 4th (Week 10) - [I][B]Michigan[/B][/I]. Lots of history here. Revenge from last year's game. Should be one of the last weeks where students are fully packed on campus. Measuring stick game. Extra day of rest going into this game (you know Michigan is not willing to play on Fridays). November 11th (Week 11) - [I][B]Illinois State[/B][/I]. In-state FCS team. Perfect time right after the Michigan game. Opportunity to give lots of guys reps. Happy to swap this one out for EIU, WIU, or Missouri State. November 18th (Week 12) - [I][B]Iowa[/B][/I]. Opportunity to rest starters the week before. Final home game of the year against a hated rival (right before they play Nebraska). Lots of juice for this one. November 25th (Week 13) - [I][B]@Northwestern[/B][/I]. Happy to keep this game where it is. NW has a dark road ahead of it, would appreciate ending the season on a high note for the foreseeable future. Not afraid to play in Evanston. [/QUOTE]
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