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Illinois Fighting Illini

Big TenChampaign, ILMemorial Stadium (Champaign, IL)

2026: 3–⁠3 (1–⁠2 Big Ten). Last: won at Michigan State 38–⁠37. Next: Oregon, Saturday, Oct 24.

  1. W 42–⁠23UAB
  2. L 27–⁠31Duke
  3. W 48–⁠10Southern Illinois
  4. L 19–⁠42at No. 7 Ohio State
  5. L 17–⁠24Purdue
  6. W 38–⁠37at Michigan State
  7. Oct 24Oregon
  8. Oct 31at Maryland
  9. Nov 6Nebraska
  10. Nov 13at UCLA
  11. Nov 21Iowa
  12. Nov 28at Northwestern
  • Outfitted by Nike
  • Sudler Trophy, 1983

Illinois has played football since 1890 and is 647–⁠633–⁠50 in the 1,330 games on record here, which start in 1892. Illinois claims five national championships (1914, 1919, 1923, 1927, 1951). Their best finish in the final AP poll is No. 3, in 1963. They have won 15 Big Ten Conference titles (the last in 2001), counting shared titles. Since 1946, the NFL Draft has taken 134 players from here in its first seven rounds, 20 of them in the first round. The AAFC and AFL drafts also took four players from here. The College Football Hall of Fame holds 13 players and 4 coaches from Illinois. Robert Zuppke (1913–⁠1941) won more games here than any other coach: 131. The most-played rival is Northwestern: 119 meetings, Illinois leads 59–⁠55–⁠5. This season, under Bret Bielema, they’re 3–⁠3.

Memorial Stadium (Champaign, IL) in Champaign
Memorial Stadium (Champaign, IL)Photo: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

On this date in 2024No. 22 Illinois beat No. 24 Michigan 21–⁠7 at home.

Résumé

All-time record
651–⁠627–⁠50 official; 647–⁠633–⁠50 on file; how we count
Postseason
10–⁠12 matches the official bowl record
AP No. 1 finishes
0
Weeks at No. 1
0 of 190 ranked
Elo now
1533 68th of 138 FBS
Computer rankings
Massey No. 53 · Composite No. 60 in FBS, Oct 17; down 1 since Oct 11. From Massey Ratings
Best season by Elo
1951 rated 1740
Conference titles
15 last in 2001
Seasons
135 since 1892, 1,330 games

Identity

Fight song
Illinois Loyalty and Oskee Wow Wow
Student section
Block
Band
Marching Illini since 1867, 400 members

2026 season 3–⁠3

RosterFull 2026 season
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsUABW 42–⁠2378%
Sep 12vsDukeL 27–⁠3154%
Sep 19vsSouthern IllinoisW 48–⁠1080%
Sep 26at7Ohio StateL 19–⁠4223%
Oct 3vsPurdueL 17–⁠2480%
Oct 10atMichigan StateW 38–⁠3755%
Oct 24vsOregonPreview34%
Oct 31atMarylandPreview62%
Nov 6vsNebraskaPreview49%
Nov 13atUCLAPreview32%
Nov 21vsIowaPreview39%
Nov 28atNorthwesternPreview33%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

This season, game by game

Illinois’s Elo through 2026: 1570 going into the opener, 1533 after the latest game.1525155015751600Elo 1570 going in; beat UAB 42–23Elo 1582 going in; lost to Duke 31–27Elo 1565 going in; beat Southern Illinois 48–10Elo 1578 going in; lost to Ohio State 42–19Elo 1564 going in; lost to Purdue 24–17Elo 1526 going in; beat Michigan State 38–37Now: Elo 1533 after the latest game1533
UABDukeSouthern IllinoisOhio StatePurdueMichigan StateNow
Elo going into each game, then after the latest. Filled dots: wins; open: losses.

Future schedule

2027–⁠35
202711 games: 6 home, 5 away
202811 games: 6 home, 5 away
20292 games: 1 home, 1 away, non-conference only
20321 game: 1 home, non-conference only
20331 game: 1 away, non-conference only
20341 game: 1 home, non-conference only
20351 game: 1 away, non-conference only

Illinois’s announced games beyond the seasons on our schedule, as its Wikipedia article lists them. Schedules change; a season shows only the games named so far, and many articles list non-conference games only. Future schedules: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

Players

The 2026 rosterRecord bookAll-time letterwinnersThe money

On the 2026 team

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.

Program greats See all

Heisman finalists, College Football Hall of Famers, consensus All-Americans, national award winners and first-round picks, for what they did at Illinois.

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.

Around the program

Apparel
Nike · Official source
Student section
Block · Official source
Athletic director
Josh Whitman · Official source
Offensive coordinator
Barry Lunney Jr. · Official source
NIL collective
ICON Collective · Official source

Found by several AI researchers searching the web, then kept only where the page loads and says so in words naming the program; every quote is checked again each time the data is rebuilt. Official source: the school’s own page. All of them.

The apparel deal

Nike, through June 2033. Seven-year extension announced in September 2026. Covers all 21 varsity teams. Replaces a 10-year agreement signed in 2016.

  • Fighting Illini Athletics, Sep 1, 2026: Seven-year extension with every Illini team wearing Nike through June 30, 2033
  • FOX Illinois, Sep 1, 2026: Illinois extends Nike agreement for seven years, through June 30, 2033

Apparel deals: Field Drip. Terms as the outlets reported them; checked Oct 3, 2026.

Program strength since 1892

Best seasons ever
Illinois end-of-season Elo from 1892 to 2026, best in 1951 at 1740.130015001700190019001920194019601980200020201951 peak: Elo 1740
End-of-season Elo. Dashed line: 1500, an average FBS team.

More coverage

Found through the GDELT Project, which indexes news sites worldwide. Each link opens the story on the outlet’s own site; each picture is that outlet’s own preview of its story, shown from its site and credited to it.

Podcasts

Found through Podcast Index, the open podcast directory. Each link opens the episode’s page.

Head coaches

CoachYearsRecord
Bret Bielema2021–⁠202640–⁠29
Rod Smith20200–⁠1
Lovie Smith2016–⁠202017–⁠39
Bill Cubit20155–⁠7
Tim Beckman2012–⁠201412–⁠25
Vic Koenning20111–⁠0
Ron Zook2005–⁠201134–⁠51
Ron Turner1997–⁠200435–⁠57
Lou Tepper1991–⁠199625–⁠31–⁠2
John Mackovic1988–⁠199130–⁠16–⁠1
Mike White1980–⁠198747–⁠41–⁠3
Gary Moeller1977–⁠19796–⁠24–⁠3
Bob Blackman1971–⁠197629–⁠36–⁠1
James Valek1967–⁠19708–⁠32
Pete Elliott1960–⁠196631–⁠34–⁠1
Ray Eliot1942–⁠195983–⁠73–⁠11
Robert Zuppke1913–⁠1941131–⁠81–⁠12
Arthur Hall1907–⁠191227–⁠10–⁠3
Justa Lindgren19061–⁠3–⁠1
Fred Lowenthal19055–⁠4
Arthur R. Hall, Justa Lindgren, Fred Lowenthal & Clyde Mathews19049–⁠2–⁠1
George Woodruff19038–⁠6
Edgar Holt1901–⁠190218–⁠4–⁠1
Fred Smith19007–⁠3–⁠2
George Huff1895–⁠189921–⁠16–⁠3
Louis Vail18945–⁠3
E.K. Hall1892–⁠189312–⁠5–⁠5

Most-played series

All rivalries
OpponentGamesILL record
Northwestern11959–⁠55–⁠5
Ohio State10530–⁠70–⁠4 †
Purdue10247–⁠49–⁠6 ‡
Michigan9824–⁠72–⁠2
Wisconsin9138–⁠46–⁠7
Iowa7939–⁠38–⁠2
Minnesota7733–⁠41–⁠3
Indiana7446–⁠26–⁠2

Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file. Each series page gives both.

Rivals the program names: Northwestern, Purdue, Ohio State, Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan.

The trophy it holds: Land of Lincoln Trophy (Northwestern, since 2024). Who holds each comes from the games on file; the trophies from Wikipedia.

Every opponent (144)

Every program Illinois has played, A to Z, with Illinois’s record against it. Each links to the series, game by game.

Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated, or with forfeits counted. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file.

Conference titles

15, counting shared titles
Big Ten Conference 15
1910 (shared), 1914, 1915 (shared), 1918 (shared), 1919, 1923 (shared), 1927 (shared), 1928, 1946, 1951, 1953 (shared), 1963, 1983, 1990 (shared), 2001

As the program counts them in its Wikipedia article, shared titles included, and listed under each conference’s current name (a Western Conference title of the 1900s counts as a Big Ten title); season pages use the name the conference had that year. A title the article files under a conference the team wasn’t in that season is listed under the one it was. Division titles include years the team tied for its division.

Conferences

  1. Independent 1890–⁠1895
  2. Western Conference 1896–⁠1952
  3. Big Ten since 1953

Illinois’s football conferences by season, from CollegeFootballData.com’s memberships (renamed conferences keep the name of the time).

National award winners

All awards
2011Whitney Mercilus DEHendricks
1995Kevin Hardy LBButkus
1994Dana Howard LBButkus
1983Mike White coachWalter Camp Coach

Consensus All-Americans 27

2023Johnny Newton DL
2022Devon Witherspoon DB
2011Whitney Mercilus DE
2007J Leman LB
1995Kevin Hardy LB
1994Dana Howard LB
1990Moe Gardner DT
1989Moe Gardner DT
1985David Williams WR
1984David Williams WR
1965Jim Grabowski FB
1964Dick Butkus C
1963Dick Butkus C
1959Bill Burrell OG
1953J.C. Caroline RB
1951Johnny Karras RB
1946Alex Agase OG
1926Bernie Shively OG
1925Red Grange RB
1924Red Grange RB
1923Jim McMillen OG
1923Red Grange RB
1920Chuck Carney E
1918Jack Depler C
1915Bart Macomber RB/QB
1914Perry Graves E
1914Ralph Chapman OG

Led the nation 6

2010Mikel Leshoure points per game (13.6)
1984David Williams receptions (101 catches), receiving yards (1,278 yds)
1982Mike Martin receptions (69 catches)
1958Marshall Starks kickoff return average (26.3)
1958Rich Kreitling receiving yards (688 yds), yards per catch (29.9)
1953J.C. Caroline rushing yards (1,256 yds)

The NCAA’s official national leaders since 1937, from Wikipedia’s yearly leader lists.

Heisman runners-up and finalists

The votes
1965Jim Grabowski FB3rd
1964Dick Butkus C3rd
1959Bill Burrell OG4th
1944Buddy Young RB5th

Second to fifth in the vote, from each season’s Wikipedia article.

In the Hall of Fame

Every inductee
Players
13
Coaches
4
2022Moe Gardner DT
2018Dana Howard LB
2005David Williams WR
1998Al Brosky S
1995Jim Grabowski FB
1989J.C. Caroline RB
1987Bob Blackman coach here, 1971–⁠1976
1983Dick Butkus C
1982Bernie Shively OG
1972Bart Macomber RB/QB
1968Buddy Young RB
1966Chuck Carney E
1963Alex Agase OG
1963George Washington Woodruff coach here, 1903
1951Edward K. Hall coach, career 1892–⁠1893
1951Red Grange RB
1951Robert Zuppke coach here, 1913–⁠1941

In the draft

By college
NFL picks, rounds 1–⁠7
134 since 1946
First-round picks
20
AAFC and AFL picks
4 1948, 1961
2023Devon Witherspoon CBNo. 5, Seattle Seahawks
2012Whitney Mercilus DENo. 26, Houston Texans
2012A.J. Jenkins WRNo. 30, San Francisco 49ers
2011Corey Liuget DTNo. 18, San Diego Chargers
2009Vontae Davis CBNo. 25, Miami Dolphins
2008Rashard Mendenhall RBNo. 23, Pittsburgh Steelers
1996Kevin Hardy LBNo. 2, Jacksonville Jaguars
1996Simeon Rice DENo. 3, Arizona Cardinals

Who came and went in the 2026 transfer portal, and every portal year.

The school

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Enrollment
59,238 37,140 undergraduates, fall 2024
Where
Champaign, Illinois
Public or private
Public Research 1
Founded
1867
Graduates’ median earnings
$81,054 10 years after starting

Enrollment, place and Carnegie research tier from the National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS, public domain). Earnings from the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard (CC BY 4.0): the median for students who received federal aid and were working, not in school. Founding year from Wikidata. Every school’s in the data.

Official accounts

Football
X @IlliniFootballInstagram @IlliniFootballFacebook IlliniFootball
Athletics department
X @IlliniAthleticsInstagram @IlliniAthleticsFacebook IlliniAthletics

Official accounts: the schools’ athletics websites: the ones fightingillini.com lists for its football program and athletics department, as of Oct 12, 2026.

Old photographs

From libraries and archives found through the Digital Public Library of America, each under the rights statement its holder gives and credited to it. The records don’t give these a season; those they date are on their seasons’ pages.

On the newsreel

And 11 more

Universal Newsreel, National Archives (catalog record). Story titles and words as Universal’s release sheet gives them; the films themselves may still be under copyright, so we link to the record rather than show them.

Books

Books: Open Library (CC0), filed under the program’s Library of Congress subject heading; most-reissued first, each linked to its page there.

Season by season

National champions

Shaded: national title seasons, No. 1 in the final AP poll or claimed by Illinois (5 claimed).

SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
20263–⁠31–⁠2Bret Bielema15335.8
20259–⁠45–⁠412Bret Bielema160512.9
202410–⁠36–⁠316Bret Bielema16229.6
20235–⁠73–⁠6Bret Bielema1465-2.5
20228–⁠55–⁠4Bret Bielema156315.9
20215–⁠74–⁠5Bret Bielema14594.3
20202–⁠62–⁠6Lovie Smith, Rod Smith1412-5.4
20196–⁠74–⁠5Lovie Smith14230.6
20184–⁠82–⁠7Lovie Smith1362-7.9
20172–⁠100–⁠9Lovie Smith1314-7.4
20163–⁠92–⁠7Lovie Smith1378-6.7
20155–⁠72–⁠6Bill Cubit14382.7
20146–⁠73–⁠5Tim Beckman14400.4
20134–⁠81–⁠7Tim Beckman1377-4.0
20122–⁠100–⁠8Tim Beckman1327-9.8
20117–⁠62–⁠6Ron Zook, Vic Koenning14896.8
20107–⁠64–⁠4Ron Zook15758.6
20093–⁠92–⁠6Ron Zook1433-5.7
20085–⁠73–⁠520Ron Zook15088.9
20079–⁠46–⁠220Ron Zook158112.7
20062–⁠101–⁠7Ron Zook1303-2.8
20052–⁠90–⁠8Ron Zook1304-8.8
20043–⁠81–⁠7Ron Turner1345-11.3
20031–⁠110–⁠8Ron Turner1337-12.1
20025–⁠74–⁠4Ron Turner15596.2
Every season back to 1892 (110 more)
SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
200110–⁠27–⁠112Ron Turner167014.9
20005–⁠62–⁠621Ron Turner15011.8
19998–⁠44–⁠424Ron Turner158617.1
19983–⁠82–⁠6Ron Turner1327-13.5
19970–⁠110–⁠8Ron Turner1280-18.1
19962–⁠91–⁠7Lou Tepper1398-6.3
19955–⁠5–⁠13–⁠4–⁠1Lou Tepper15759.8
19947–⁠54–⁠421Lou Tepper160021.7
19935–⁠65–⁠3Lou Tepper15083.7
19926–⁠5–⁠14–⁠3–⁠1Lou Tepper15161.0
19916–⁠64–⁠4John Mackovic, Lou Tepper15579.4
19908–⁠46–⁠21125John Mackovic159510.1
198910–⁠27–⁠12210John Mackovic164920.4
19886–⁠5–⁠15–⁠2–⁠1John Mackovic1484-0.3
19873–⁠7–⁠12–⁠5–⁠1Mike White1414-5.4
19864–⁠73–⁠5Mike White1467-2.8
19856–⁠5–⁠15–⁠2–⁠111Mike White156710.0
19847–⁠46–⁠3Mike White160411.2
198310–⁠29–⁠010Mike White166314.0
19827–⁠56–⁠3Mike White157211.6
19817–⁠46–⁠3Mike White15115.4
19803–⁠7–⁠13–⁠5Mike White1372-5.6
19792–⁠8–⁠11–⁠6–⁠1Gary Moeller1344-9.4
19781–⁠8–⁠20–⁠6–⁠2Gary Moeller1323-15.9
19773–⁠82–⁠6Gary Moeller1363-14.0
19765–⁠64–⁠4Bob Blackman14906.8
19755–⁠64–⁠4Bob Blackman15061.2
19746–⁠4–⁠14–⁠3–⁠1Bob Blackman15130.4
19735–⁠64–⁠4Bob Blackman14542.6
19723–⁠83–⁠5Bob Blackman14541.9
19715–⁠65–⁠3Bob Blackman14402.4
19703–⁠71–⁠6James Valek1289-8.5
19690–⁠100–⁠7James Valek1230
19681–⁠91–⁠6James Valek1332
19674–⁠63–⁠4James Valek1452
19664–⁠64–⁠3Pete Elliott1512
19656–⁠44–⁠3Pete Elliott1620
19646–⁠34–⁠33Pete Elliott1616
19638–⁠1–⁠15–⁠1–⁠13Pete Elliott1614
19622–⁠72–⁠5Pete Elliott1368
19610–⁠90–⁠7Pete Elliott1361
19605–⁠43–⁠45Pete Elliott1550
19595–⁠3–⁠14–⁠2–⁠113Ray Eliot1577
19584–⁠54–⁠3Ray Eliot1535
19574–⁠53–⁠4Ray Eliot1503
19562–⁠5–⁠21–⁠4–⁠220Ray Eliot1495
19555–⁠3–⁠13–⁠3–⁠1Ray Eliot1534
19541–⁠80–⁠65Ray Eliot1447
19537–⁠1–⁠15–⁠17Ray Eliot1650
19524–⁠52–⁠55Ray Eliot1560
19519–⁠0–⁠15–⁠0–⁠1104Ray Eliot1740
19507–⁠24–⁠2813Ray Eliot1625
19493–⁠4–⁠23–⁠3–⁠1Ray Eliot1496
19483–⁠62–⁠5Ray Eliot1490
19475–⁠3–⁠13–⁠36Ray Eliot1583
19468–⁠26–⁠1125Ray Eliot1660
19452–⁠6–⁠11–⁠4–⁠1Ray Eliot1449
19445–⁠4–⁠13–⁠31415Ray Eliot1519
19433–⁠72–⁠4Ray Eliot1420
19426–⁠43–⁠25Ray Eliot1469
19412–⁠60–⁠5Robert Zuppke1379
19401–⁠70–⁠5Robert Zuppke1388
19393–⁠4–⁠13–⁠3Robert Zuppke1479
19383–⁠52–⁠3Robert Zuppke1443
19373–⁠3–⁠22–⁠3Robert Zuppke1498
19364–⁠3–⁠12–⁠2–⁠1Robert Zuppke1487
19353–⁠51–⁠4Robert Zuppke1506
19347–⁠14–⁠1Robert Zuppke1604
19335–⁠33–⁠2Robert Zuppke1543
19325–⁠42–⁠4Robert Zuppke1447
19312–⁠60–⁠6Robert Zuppke1408
19303–⁠51–⁠4Robert Zuppke1520
19296–⁠1–⁠13–⁠1–⁠1Robert Zuppke1662
19287–⁠14–⁠1Robert Zuppke1654
19277–⁠0–⁠15–⁠0Robert Zuppke1666
19266–⁠22–⁠2Robert Zuppke1610
19255–⁠32–⁠2Robert Zuppke1625
19246–⁠1–⁠13–⁠1–⁠1Robert Zuppke1642
19238–⁠05–⁠0Robert Zuppke1645
19222–⁠52–⁠4Robert Zuppke1468
19213–⁠41–⁠4Robert Zuppke1526
19205–⁠24–⁠2Robert Zuppke1610
19196–⁠16–⁠1Robert Zuppke1635
19185–⁠24–⁠0Robert Zuppke1598
19175–⁠2–⁠12–⁠2–⁠1Robert Zuppke1587
19163–⁠3–⁠12–⁠2–⁠1Robert Zuppke1589
19155–⁠0–⁠23–⁠0–⁠2Robert Zuppke1679
19147–⁠06–⁠0Robert Zuppke1669
19134–⁠2–⁠12–⁠2–⁠1Robert Zuppke1540
19123–⁠3–⁠11–⁠3–⁠1Arthur Hall1512
19114–⁠2–⁠12–⁠2–⁠1Arthur Hall1575
19107–⁠04–⁠0Arthur Hall1657
19095–⁠23–⁠1Arthur Hall1606
19085–⁠1–⁠14–⁠1Arthur Hall1596
19073–⁠23–⁠2Arthur Hall1524
19061–⁠3–⁠11–⁠3Justa Lindgren1480
19055–⁠40–⁠3Fred Lowenthal1504
19049–⁠2–⁠13–⁠1–⁠1Arthur R. Hall, Justa Lindgren, Fred Lowenthal & Clyde Mathews1609
19038–⁠61–⁠5George Woodruff1516
190210–⁠2–⁠14–⁠2Edgar Holt1627
19018–⁠24–⁠2Edgar Holt1585
19007–⁠3–⁠21–⁠3–⁠2Fred Smith1447
18993–⁠5–⁠10–⁠3George Huff1379
18984–⁠51–⁠1George Huff1384
18976–⁠21–⁠1George Huff1467
18964–⁠2–⁠10–⁠1–⁠1George Huff1477
18954–⁠2–⁠1George Huff1467
1894partial5–⁠3Louis Vail1412
18933–⁠2–⁠3E.K. Hall1421
1892partial9–⁠3–⁠2E.K. Hall1482

Officially 651–⁠627–⁠50 since 1890 (per Wikipedia, as of 9/4/26); game by game here, 647–⁠633–⁠50 (−4 wins, +6 losses). Our file starts in 1892; the program began in 1890.

Game by game, 133 of 135 seasons are complete on file. For 2 seasons (1892, 1894) the record comes from coaching totals and some games are missing, so early totals and streaks count only the games on file.

Records are computed from every game on file at CollegeFootballData.com, whose coverage of the earliest seasons can be incomplete. Elo is this site’s own rating; see how it works on the records page.