Illinois ranked 110 in USA Today College Football Countdown

Submitted by Muttley on

the B1G cellar-dwellars shouldn't fall beneath the 80s.  I know it's just a preseason SWAG, but no B1G team should be in consideration for ~110 (out of 125)

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/05/24/illinois-college-football-countdown-2013-preview/2356353/

The three Legends teams benefiting from the auto-win are Nebraska (ha-ha Nebraska ticket holders, zzzzzz), MSU, and Northwestern.

 

 

2013 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule
DATE OPPONENT RESULT/TIME  
Sat, Aug 31 TBD  
Sat, Sept 7 TBD  
Sat, Sept 14 6:00 PM ET Big Ten Network  
Sat, Sept 28 TBD  
Sat, Oct 5 TBD  
Sat, Oct 19 8:00 PM ET Big Ten Network  
Sat, Oct 26 TBD  
Sat, Nov 2 TBD  
Sat, Nov 9 TBD  
Sat, Nov 16 TBD  
Sat, Nov 23 TBD  
Sat, Nov 30 TBD  

 

turtleboy

May 26th, 2013 at 10:17 PM ^

They were terrible even with the NFL talent they had on the team. Now most of them left and they have no depth. Last year's really bad defence and kinda bad offence will likely get worse next year. It's possible that even Miami OH might beat them. I hate to think this but they could go 1-11 in the fall.

JHendo

May 27th, 2013 at 12:20 AM ^

Firstly, what you are actually targeting in your response is his spelling, not his grammar. They are two much different things. Secondly, offence/defence are not mispellings, look it up in a dictionary yourself. We, as Americans, just prefer those words with an "s," but neither variation is technically improper.

Lastly, while the poster who you are replying to does indeed have plenty of actual grammatical errors, you are one to talk.  In your sentence, as you are beginning an independent clause with a conjunction, a comma before "but" is most certainly necessary.

snoopblue

May 26th, 2013 at 10:42 PM ^

Tim Beckman did a hell of a job at Toledo. They are bad right now, but they'll be respectable and good for an upset every now and then soon.

EGD

May 27th, 2013 at 2:19 PM ^

I buy it.  I watched a few Illinois games last season and they were absolutely pitiful.  They were inept on offense, undisciplined on defense, and seemed to quit as soon as they fell behind.  I don't expect them to be any better in 2013, as they will have less talent to work with and the tension/stress level should increase as fewer people will be inclined to give Beckman the first-year HC pass. 

NFG

May 27th, 2013 at 12:18 AM ^

If the Illini want to ever be relevant again, hire Glen Mason immediately. 8-4 every year with notable national attention getting play makers will sell tickets and get you on the TV more.

LSAClassOf2000

May 27th, 2013 at 6:41 AM ^

Well, the #110 honor sort of makes sense. Courtesy of TeamRankings, some summary statistics from last year and their rank in the whole of Division I football:

Illinois Offense Value (rank) Illinois Defense Value (rank)
Points/Game 14.2 (#123) Opp Points/Game 35.0 (#101)
Yards/Game 280.1 (#123) Opp Yards/Game 411.5 (#67)
Points/Play 0.204 (#123) Opp Points/Play 0.494 (#109)
Yards/Play 4.0 (#122) Opp Yards/Play 5.8 (#86)
3D Conversion % 33.75% (#102) Opp 3D Conv % 34.81% (#24)
4D Conversion % 33.33% (#111) Opp 4D Conv % 61.54% (#97)
RZ Scoring % 76.00% (#95) Opp RZ Scoring % 81.48% (#64)

This being the case, I rather agree with much of the assessment - if they lose to Southern Illinois, that's a really bad sign. 

snarling wolverine

May 27th, 2013 at 10:47 AM ^

How is the flagship school in a large, fairly talent-rich state this bad so often?  I know they seem to come out of nowhere to be good about once a decade, but why can't they sustain it?

EGD

May 27th, 2013 at 2:29 PM ^

Probably some combination of the following factors:

1) Lack of tradition;

2) Champaign-Urbana being a subpar college town in the middle of nowhere;

3) Steady rise of Northwestern;

4) Numerous other establised football powers (M, OSU, Wisc., ND) are not much further away from Chicago than the Uof I campus;

5) Succession of sub-optimal coaching hires;

6) Nothing special to offer (whether in terms of academics, off-campus life, weather, or otherwise)

snarling wolverine

May 27th, 2013 at 2:55 PM ^

Re: #4, does the state of Illinois not have the same kind of "state pride" (for lack of a better phrase) that prods guys to give the in-state school a look?  In Michigan we can more or less assume that a local recruit will at least give us (and usually MSU) a shot.   Does UI not even get that?

TheBlueBaller

May 27th, 2013 at 4:25 PM ^

I made it out to only two games last year. Northwestern which was obviously wonderful. And Illinois. I have never seen such a horrible game in my life. They are truly a terrible team