With college football just 18 days away, the 2025 Illinois Fighting Illini are next on the CFB Top 50 countdown.

Football fans in the Land of Lincoln are starting to love the sport again, or so I hear. Winning 10 games in 2024, Illinois had their best season in literal decades; the last time they did that, Ron Turner was the head coach. If the Fighting Illini have another winning season this year, it would be the first time since 2010 and 2011 that they have done it back-to-back. Not to get ahead of ourselves, but the last time Illinois had three winning seasons in a row was 1988, 1989, and 1990.

They have to get through 2025 before they can start thinking about 2026. However, we are now all asking ourselves if Illinois has turned a corner. Might it be true that they have? You can’t let one 10-win season get to your heads, but there are legitimate reasons for hope.

2025 Illinois Fighting Illini Basic Facts

Head Coach: Bret Bielema (5th season)

2025 Conference: Big Ten Conference

2024 Record: 10-3 (6-3), 5th in Big Ten

Final Resolution of Last Season: Won Citrus Bowl, ranked 16th (AP)

2024 Scoring Offensive Rank: T-64th (28.3)

2024 Scoring Defensive Rank: 31st (21.7)

Illinois Key Additions and Subtractions

IN – Hudson Clement, wide receiver. Transferred from West Virginia.

IN – James Thompson, defensive end. Transferred from Wisconsin.

OUT – Pat Bryant, wide receiver. Drafted by Denver in 3rd round of 2025 Draft.

OUT – Josh McCray, running back. Transferred to Georgia.

Best Game on the Schedule in 2025

November 22 at Wisconsin. Look out, everyone: Bret Bielema is going back to Camp Randall. Being so late in the season, this game could have extra significance if the Fighting Illini are in the mix.

2025 Illinois Fighting Illini: Outlook

Quarterback Luke Altmyer is back with Illinois this season, and he is coming off of a nice year. 22 touchdowns against six picks and over 2,700 passing yards helped the Illini win their ten games. WR Pat Bryant got drafted into the pros, and Zakhari Franklin graduated, so he’ll need to find some new targets. Perhaps newcomer Hudson Clement will get tosses; same with Collin Dixon, who had 264 yards last season.

Losing Josh McCray is going to hurt, but Illinois spread the carries around last season, so it’s not like he accounted for the vast majority of their rushing yardage (about 30 percent, to be more precise). This team boasts a good offensive line and has a competent passing game, which should help open up the run for guys like Aidan Laughery and Kaden Feagin. Let’s not forget that Luke Altmyer can run a little as well.

We do not worry so much about the defense. They were respectable last season and some of their top tacklers from a year ago are back. The only game last year where Illinois truly looked outmatched was against Oregon, who at the time were number one and mowing down their opposition. Even against Penn State, Illinois was in the game when the fourth quarter started. Expect the defense to keep them in most games.

Duke is an interesting Week 2 game, which should be winnable despite being on the road. Indiana and Purdue will be fun, as will USC going to Champaign in late September. There are few easy outs in the Big Ten schedule, so either Illinois is going to run it back and have another good season or they’ll get swallowed whole. We lean towards the former.

References

2024 Football Cumulative Statistics – University of Illinois Athletics. (n.d.). University of Illinois Athletics. https://fightingillini.com/sports/football/stats

2025 Illinois Fighting Illini football depth Chart | Ourlads.com. (n.d.). https://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/depth-chart/illinois/90705

CFbStats.com – 2024 National team leaders. (n.d.-c). https://cfbstats.com/2024/leader/national/team/offense/split01/category09/sort01.html

CFbStats.com – 2024 National team leaders. (n.d.-d). https://cfbstats.com/2024/leader/national/team/defense/split01/category09/sort01.html

Wikipedia contributors. (2025r, July 27). 2025 Illinois Fighting Illini football team. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_football_team