2024 Illinois football schedule registers as one of the toughest in the nation

We are approaching the Illinois football season, and 2024 needs to be a good year for the Orange and Blue.

After a 5-7 campaign in 2023, Illini fans are itching to get back to a bowl game. We want to be one of those programs that doesn’t question if we are making a bowl game but rather what caliber of bowl are we going to qualify for.

I put together a prediction for how the Illinois 2024 season will turn out. The prediction has us starting weak due to a strong schedule and finishing strong.

The schedule is extremely tough to the naked eye for the Illini this season. Not only does the naked eye say the competition will be fierce, but ESPN is saying it as well.

ESPN has updated its strength of schedule to start the 2024 season. The hardest schedule in all of college football belongs to the Florida Gators. You don’t have to go too far down to find Illinois. The Illini currently sit with the No. 15 toughest schedule in college football.

What makes the 2024 Illinois football schedule a top-15 toughest schedule in the country

Illinois has 12 games on the slate for the 2024 season. Thankfully, the first game of the year is the easiest, although Eastern Illinois played well last season. Facing an FCS program should be a nice tune-up game.

After that game, things get a bit crazy. In the first eight games of the season, Illinois plays four ranked opponents. According to the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll, Kansas is No. 24, Penn State is No. 9, Michigan is No. 8, and Oregon is No. 3 in the nation. Illinois plays these four teams on September 7, September 28, October 19, and October 26, respectively. The Penn State and Oregon games are both on the road.

In addition to that, Illinois also takes on Nebraska in Lincoln. The Cornhuskers have a couple of votes to be inside the top 25.

What is crazy is that I think the Illinois schedule could be even tougher. We escaped a few of the prominent teams.

Ohio State is No. 2, USC is No. 23, and Iowa is No. 25 in the nation. Washington, Wisconsin, and Maryland all received votes to be in the top 25 as well.

Needless to say, the Big Ten is stacked this season. Illinois has an incredibly tough schedule in the first eight weeks, but that is why I think we can rally and get into a bowl game with a strong finish.