CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2000 Illinois

5–⁠6 (2–⁠6 Big Ten), coached by Ron Turner.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 2000, game by game: won vs. Middle Tennessee 35–6; won at San Diego State 49–13; won vs. California 17–15; lost vs. No. 10 Michigan 31–35; lost at Minnesota 10–44; won vs. Iowa 31–0; lost at Penn State 25–39; lost at Michigan State 10–14; won vs. Indiana 42–35; lost vs. No. 13 Ohio State 21–24; lost at No. 23 Northwestern 23–61+36−38Won 35–6 vs. Middle Tennessee+29Middle TennesseeWon 49–13 at San Diego State+36San Diego StateWon 17–15 vs. California+2CaliforniaLost 31–35 vs. No. 10 Michigan-4No. 10 MichiganLost 10–44 at Minnesota-34MinnesotaWon 31–0 vs. Iowa+31IowaLost 25–39 at Penn State-14Penn StateLost 10–14 at Michigan State-4Michigan StateWon 42–35 vs. Indiana+7IndianaLost 21–24 vs. No. 13 Ohio State-3No. 13 Ohio StateLost 23–61 at No. 23 Northwestern-38No. 23 Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vsMiddle TennesseeW 35–⁠683%
Sep 9atSan Diego StateW 49–⁠1351%
Sep 16vsCaliforniaW 17–⁠1574%
Sep 23vs10MichiganL 31–⁠3550%
Sep 30atMinnesotaL 10–⁠4450%
Oct 14vsIowaW 31–⁠081%
Oct 21atPenn StateL 25–⁠3947%
Oct 28atMichigan StateL 10–⁠1442%
Nov 4vsIndianaW 42–⁠3568%
Nov 11vs13Ohio StateL 21–⁠2442%
Nov 18at23NorthwesternL 23–⁠6143%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Northwestern 61–⁠23; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 9th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 72nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 21
  2. Wk 2: 21
  3. Wk 3: 21
  4. Wk 4: 19
  5. Wk 5: 19
  6. Wk 6: 24

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 2000.

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 9th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 19
Points
294–⁠286
Coach
Ron Turner
Elo
1501 −56 this season
SP+ rating
1.8 No. 62 of 116; offense No. 54, defense No. 67
SRS
3.3 No. 50 of 116 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 44
Defensive coordinator
Tim Kish
Captains
Ray Redziniak, Muhammad Abdullah, Bobby Jackson and Fred Wakefield
Most valuable player
Kurt Kittner
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 2001

The 2001 draft
Rd 5Marques Sullivan OTBuffalo Bills
Rd 6Jameel Cook RBTampa Bay Buccaneers

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Fred WakefieldDLCoaches-1; Media-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2000 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2000 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan6–⁠29–⁠311
Purdue6–⁠28–⁠413
Northwestern6–⁠28–⁠4
Ohio State5–⁠38–⁠4
Wisconsin4–⁠49–⁠423
Minnesota4–⁠46–⁠6
Penn State4–⁠45–⁠7
Iowa3–⁠53–⁠9
Illinois2–⁠65–⁠6
Michigan State2–⁠65–⁠6
Indiana2–⁠63–⁠8

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.