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Illinois Football: 4 Big Ten West Teams the Illini Will Beat

By Rees Woodcock

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Dec 26, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Tim Beckman on the field before the game against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in the Heart of Dallas Bowl at Cotton Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The Illinois football team has slowly but surely gained momentum over the last few seasons.  The beginning of the Tim Beckman era did not start of great but things are starting to turn around.

Beckman has even said it himself that the first season was a disaster for the Illinois program.  In an interview with the Big Ten Network, Beckman explained his thoughts on the first three seasons and where the Illinois football program is today.

"The first year was a disaster, I’ll be honest. I put it on my shoulders. Depth and injuries … I didn’t do a good job. But we have made strides. We still are lacking a tremendous amount of maturity on the field. I would have loved to have redshirted a Mason Monheim or a few other guys, but we couldn’t do it. I have 22 seniors this year, almost close to double what we had before the last few years. We have a lot of good leaders and guys who have played a lot of Big Ten football. We are making the strides."

While the first few years were rocky, Beckman clearly has this team heading in the right direction.

Illinois football finished last season with a 6-6 record and made a bowl game for the first time in the Beckman era.  This was a step in the right direction.

Beckman also has a good recruiting class coming in for 2015.  There are some young stars in this class and hopefully they blossom under Beckman’s guidance.

I know this upcoming season is going to be the best campaign under Beckman.  I honestly believe it will be the best season the Illinois football team has seen since the Rose Bowl appearance in 2008.

Here are the teams from the Big Ten West Division that Illinois football will be better than in 2015.

Next: Purdue Boilermakers

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