With the college football season only weeks away, we are officially in “list season”.
This time of year is dominated by "The Worldwide Leader in Sports" in ESPN, as they continually put out lists, rankings, and previews that cover college football daily. However, a team that is commonly left off many of these lists and appears low in their rankings is Illinois.
Illinois returns 16 of their 22 starters from a 10-win season and has the 4th highest returning production in the country. In the 2024 returning production rankings, four of the top five power four teams all had the same or increased their regular season win total.
For this reason and many more, Illinois has become a trendy pick for most of the media. Two separate media polls at Big Ten media days, produced by Kings of the North and clevelanddotcom, both had Illinois finishing 4th in the Big Ten. And the coaches agree, as the coaches poll came out with Illinois ranked 12th and the 4th highest team in the Big Ten.
But, of course, ESPN doesn’t see it that way, as their staff has left the Fighting Illini off two separate rankings and disrespected what Illinois could accomplish in 2025. Here are the three pieces ESPN has produced:
Illinois is not among teams that can make the College Football Playoff
Heather Dinich wrote an article about whether she agrees or disagrees with the 32 teams in college football that ESPN analytics says have a 10% chance or more to make the playoffs. Surprisingly, Illinois was not included. Not only was Illinois not included, but they were given less than a 4% chance to make the playoffs.
The team the media has chosen to finish fourth in the Big Ten, arguably the best conference in college football, ESPN analytics doesn’t even have Illinois in the top half of the Big Ten in terms of chance to make the playoffs. Yet teams that have consistently underperformed over the years, like Nebraska and USC, which barely made bowl games last year, have nearly three times and over five times as much of a chance.
Illinois does not have any players in the top 40 most important players in college football
Bill Connelly wrote an article about the 40 most important players in college football in 2025 and had zero Illinois players listed among players from over twenty different teams. In fact, the Big Ten only had three teams included. Connelly included more group of five teams than he did Big Ten teams.
Not only the number of teams, but the number of players too. Eight SEC quarterbacks were featured on the list, and only eight Big Ten players were on the list.
To include quarterbacks like Marcel Reed of Texas A&M and Austin Simmons of Ole Miss but not include Luke Altmyer, is incredibly misguided. Not only him, but the disrespect to Gabe Jacas is striking.
Almyer and Jacas are the best players for Illinois on each side of the ball, and Illinois has the opportunity to not only make the playoffs this year, but also contend for the Big Ten or potentially spoil a team’s contention like Indiana or Ohio State. I’d say those are pretty important roles. More important than Alex Orji.
Illinois’ strength of schedule ranks among the group of five
ESPN Football Power Index (FPI) not only gave Illinois less than a 4% chance to make the playoffs, but also ranked their strength of schedule near San José State, Charlotte, and UTEP. Even in playing a schedule close to the caliber of a group of five teams, ESPN thinks Illinois cannot win enough games to get in the playoffs.
Strength of schedule has long been one of the most-used metrics by the SEC to prop itself up. However, the model and formula make little to no sense. Fifteen of the sixteen toughest schedules in college football all reside in the SEC. But, PFF Power Rankings ranks 15 Big Ten schedules in the top 40 and only 13 SEC schedules.
The worst schedule in the SEC, according to ESPN FPI, ranks 20th, and it is Missouri. Missouri plays an FCS team, two low-level group of five teams, and Kansas in their out-of-conference schedule. To compare, Illinois is ranked more than twenty spots below them, and they play an FCS team, a respectable MAC foe, and a top-six team in the ACC Football Media Poll.
Not only does Illinois face the more difficult out-of-conference schedule, but it faces two playoff teams from last year who look to be in the race again, while Missouri faces zero playoff teams from last year. Finally, Missouri only plays four road games, and all four of those are against teams that the SEC Football Media Poll picked to finish in the bottom half of the SEC in 2025. In fact, they will face five SEC opponents who were picked to finish in the bottom half of the conference.
Meanwhile, Illinois will have to go on the road five times this year, play an extra power four opponent, an extra conference game, the favorite to win the national championship according to ESPN Bet, and one of the most difficult road environments in college football at Washington.
Conclusion
Even if ESPN is right about Illinois, it doesn’t make the disrespect they are giving to the Fighting Illini acceptable. For too long, "The Worldwide Leader in Sports" has been far more interested in pumping up the conferences they televise the games of rather than creating honest and respectable analysis. It’s not just Illinois, but Illinois is the one getting some of the most disrespect.
The best way to get them to respect Illinois? Prove ESPN wrong. Prove their analytics wrong. Prove their staff wrong. And prove their model wrong. That not only is the Big Ten here to stay among the elite in college football, but that Illinois has a top-tier coach in Bret Bielema, and what he is building at Illinois is built to last, not built to fall.