On the Cover 3 podcast, CBS College Football Analyst Danny Kanell boldly predicted that Illinois would make the College Football Playoffs if it beat Indiana on September 20.
The Illinois vs Indiana matchup, featuring two non-traditional Big Ten powers, is shaping up to be a pivotal moment in the 2025 season. The Illini seem to hold the edge in this game, as Illinois is gaining momentum as a top 10 team in various analysts' post-spring top 25 rankings. However, the game is played in Indiana, giving the Hoosiers a home-field advantage.
Illinois enters the season with momentum from a 10-3 campaign last year, bolstered by a significant bowl game victory. The team ranks third nationally in returning production, with a seasoned quarterback and a roster brimming with confidence. “They bring back their quarterback, [and] Bret Bielema’s got this team playing with a tremendous amount of confidence,” Danny Kanell noted.
The Illinois-Indiana clash is not just another conference game; it’s a game that can bolster the playoff chances of the team that wins, and destroy the opportunity of the loser to make the playoffs. “Whoever wins that one makes the playoffs,” Kanell declared.
Traditional bluebloods like Ohio State, Penn State, or Michigan have dominated typical Big Ten showdowns. But the new world of the College Football Playoffs, which is being expanded, makes this matchup different. It pits two hungry teams eager to prove themselves on a national stage: last year's Cinderella playoff team in Indiana and an Illinois team that has greatly improved under Bielema and looks to try to gain notoriety.
Illinois' path to the playoffs is not guaranteed, though. Cohost on Cover 3, Tom Fornelli, warned fans about Illinois being ranked, "The last time Illinois began a season ranked in the AP poll and finished a season ranked in the AP poll was 1990." Fornelli would continue on saying, "Every time they come off a good season, that has been the one problem that they have had—they cannot sustain it."
The most recent example was in 2008 when Illinois was coming off a nine-win season under Ron Zook. With star quarterback Juice Williams returning, the Illinois team disappointed by going 5-7. Zook would never again win more than seven games in a season at Illinois. However, Bielema is not a flash-in-the-pan coach and has racked up six double-digit win seasons as a college football head coach.
The schedule offers Illinois a realistic shot at another double-digit win season. Co-host Bud Elliot sees that as a great benchmark for Illinois, saying, “If you get to Halloween with two losses or fewer, I think your chances of going to the playoffs are great.”
With a veteran roster, a proven coach, and key opportunities on the schedule, Illinois has a great chance this year to prove itself and be a nationally relevant team. Bielema just has to get his guys ready for their first conference foe in Indiana, as there will be much more on the line that day than just another W. All eyes will be on Bloomington, Indiana, on September 20, where the Illini aim to seize their moment and march toward the College Football Playoff.