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The Illinois football team has never been viewed as a true College Football Playoff contender before, but head coach Bret Bielema is starting to change that. The Fighting Illini have quietly been getting better and better every year, and last year, it really started to show. Illinois finished the season with 10 wins, including an impressive bowl game victory against a good South Carolina team. The Fighting Illini have a lot of good talent back, and their schedule sets up nicely for a potential CFP run.
It didn't happen overnight, but Bret Bielema has built the Illinois football team into a legit College Football Playoff contender ahead of the 2025 season. College football analyst Joel Klatt recently named the 10 teams that are most likely to make their first CFP appearance, and he gave the Fighting Illini the top spot.
“He [Bret Bielema] has built this team into what he wants. Physical, tough,” Klatt said during an episode of his podcast. “They win against South Carolina in the bowl game. They show the level that they can get to. Sixteen starters are back, nine on offense, seven on defense. Luke Altmyer is back for his third season. We've seen what returning production, returning experience does, in particular at the quarterback position. Altmyer Being back is huge. The entire offensive line is back in front of him. … The defense should be solid.”
The one concern that Joel Klatt has for this Illinois team is the wide receiver position. However, there is one transfer that he is excited about.
“The question is that wide receiver, they added Hudson Clement from West Virginia,” Klatt said. “He had 11 for 166 and two touchdowns in his last game for West Virginia last year in the bowl game against Memphis. So the guy can play.”
Illinois has a good team, and it also has a very favorable schedule. The Fighting Illinois only have to play one of the Big Ten's four powers this year.
“Here's the schedule,” Klatt continued. “They don't have to play Penn State, Oregon or Michigan, and they get Ohio State at home. So of Big Ten schedules, they've got kind of like the Missouri esque Big Ten schedule. I think they've hit the lottery in the Big Ten. Their first two big games are at Indiana and then home against USC. Those are back-to-back weeks in September. So we're going to know a lot about Illinois early.”
The experience mixed with this schedule is a recipe for success. Illinois has the right guys in the right places, and the team should be well prepared for its biggest games.
“Here's what benefits them, is that they're so experienced so they can handle early games, big gamesm,” Klatt added. “Both USC and Indiana, maybe less so USC, but both are kind of breaking in new quarterbacks. I know [Jayden] Maiva got some time late last year, but new quarterbacks, meanwhile, Altmyer is in his third year as a starter and gets to play in September as an experienced player in those big games. That's gigantic. Even if they don't beat Ohio State, their next biggest game is probably Washington on the road. Not saying that that's easy, but you can take an experienced team and win that game potentially, and even if they don't win that one at 10-2, I think that Illinois probably goes [to the CFP].”
Last year, the team from the Big Ten that surprised everyone was Indiana. The Hoosiers were awful the year prior, and then they made the CFP last season. Joel Klatt thinks that Illinois is that team this year.
“This year's Indiana is Illinois,” he said. “A team that their schedule is perfect, their roster is perfect. There is experience in the right places, and there is a guy at the helm, in this case, Bret Bielema, who knows exactly what he's doing.”
It's an exciting time to be an Illinois football fan, and the 2025 season should be a fun one for the Fighting Illini.
