Illinois Football or Chicago Bears, who wins more in 2017?

If you are an Illinois football fan, and honest with yourself, there are times the season can be tough to watch.

That feeling is natural when the team has only made one bowl game in the last six years and hasn’t had a head coach finish with a winning record since the 2010 campaign. To be a fan of a team like Alabama is easy. They win all the time and you can always be happy because they make the national title almost every year. Life is easy when your biggest complaint is not having enough room for all the five-star recruits who want to join the program.

But the life of an Illinois football fan is much different. I can almost say this bunch of fans is better than the likes of the Roll Tide faithful. Illinois fans have been through so much over the history of the program. We are hardened by the inconsistent play and countless missed postseason appearances. Yet, we stick around because of the love we have for the program and the random once a decade BCS Bowl game thumping.

What Illini fans, like myself, have been through is hard to match by any other program; the potential of a sleeping giant, yet the results of a mid-major. The only way to compile the fan struggle is to cheer on the other struggling football team from Illinois; the Chicago Bears.

The Bears, much like Illinois, have struggled over the last 30 years. The last time they had a winning record was 2012 and the last time they played in the postseason was 2010. That was also under Lovie Smith who ended up getting fired after a 10-6 campaign and replaced by Marc Trestman. This was arguably the worst decision the Bears have made since drafting Cade McNown.

So, clearly, both teams’ fans have dealt with, at best, mediocrity the past few decades. That struggle continues today as we approach another fall with hope and enter the winter months likely downtrodden. But, what team do fans think will win more games this year?

The Chicago Bears would be the choice that makes the most sense. They usually play three more games than the Illini so that should give them the better odds to win more games. That isn’t the case, though.

In a short poll yesterday, Illinois was picked to win more games this upcoming season than the Bears and it wasn’t close. The Illini drew 68-percent of the vote compared to only 32-percent from the Bears. That is a combination of how bad the Bears have gotten and the hope that Lovie brings to Champaign.

The Bears have a chance to get the No. 1 overall pick next year unless their defense can carry this team. The defense really improved last season and should be good this year as well. As long as the quarterback situation doesn’t ruin games, they can rely on Jordan Howard to tote the rock and that should put some wins on the board.

Illinois comes into the season with a solid core returning plus a good class of 2017 as well. Lovie is in his second season and the players on the field finally are used to the playbook. This could be a much improved Illini team in 2017.

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Do I agree with the poll? Yes, I actually do agree. Illinois could potentially have six wins this season. That isn’t a number that is out of reach. They will likely land around the 4-5 win mark, though. Depending on what the quarterback situation brings the Bears, I could see them around the four win mark as well. If nothing else, these two teams should be interesting in 2017.