College Football

2024 Illinois football predictions: Ranked No. 87 by RJ Young

Updated Aug. 12, 2024 10:29 a.m. ET

FOX Sports National College Football Analyst

Illinois Fighting Illini Ranking: 87/134

[Check out RJ Young's ultimate 134 college football rankings here]

Conference ranking: 16th in Big Ten (+20000 to win conference)
Teams ahead of them: Wake Forest (86), Boston College (85), Wyoming (84), Washington (83), Michigan State (82)
Teams behind them: Purdue (88), Virginia (89), Air Force (90), Pittsburgh (91), Georgia State (92)

[Illinois 2024 schedule]

RJ's take: When we first learned the Big Ten would expand in 2014, Illinois was one of those legacy members I worried would lose the most. When it became clear that the league would balloon to 18 teams — including three that have participated in the national title game since 2005 in USC, Oregon and Washington, I feared Illinois would fall from mediocre to bad.

The Illini haven't enjoyed back-to-back winning seasons since the Big Ten featured 12 teams in 2010 and 2011. The only time they've won eight or more games since 2007 was in 2022, and 11 out of their past 12 seasons have been losing ones. They've been ranked in the CFP top 25 just once in a decade and in the AP just once since 2012.

Bret Bielema's brand of complementary football works at Michigan and Iowa in this era of football. And 2022 is indicative of that — when his defensive coordinator, Ryan Walters, fielded one of the nation's best units. But that looks more like an aberration than the standard in Champaign.

Illinois' Win Total Odds: Over 5.5 (+100) Under 5.5 (-120)

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]