Don’t take the US LBM coaches poll too seriously Illinois football fans

The 2024 season is still weeks away from kicking off, and not surprisingly, the Illinois football team is nowhere in sight of the top 25.

After a 2023 campaign that saw the Illini falter to 5-7, Bret Bielema looks to have the arrow pointing upward this season. Some big holes in both the offense and defense have been filled, so this should be a bowl year for the Orange and Blue.

But to start the season, the US LBM coaches poll, formerly known as the US Today coaches poll, doesn’t have Illinois in the top 25. This poll was released on Monday, as coaches from around the country voted on which programs they think are the best in the nation.

Georgia takes the top spot with 46 first-place votes. Ohio State and Oregon, two Big Ten foes, are No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, as well.

Not only did Illinois fail to make the top 25, we didn’t even receive a vote to be ranked inside the top 25. There were 30 teams that did receive a vote, but Illinois couldn’t even get one coach to have confidence in our program.

Illinois football fans shouldn’t take the US LBM coaches poll too seriously for multiple reasons

It is always fun to look at preseason polls to see where or if your team is nationally recognized. In this case, Illinois isn’t. But let’s not get too worried about this poll.

For one, it is a preseason poll. Literally, no one knows which teams will be good this season. These coaches are just blindly guessing based on the name of the program.

The second thing that stuck out to me is how the coaches voted. You have teams like Air Force, Troy, and James Madison getting a vote to be in the top 25. Why is that?

Oh, it is because their head coaches get to vote in this poll. I would venture to say they are throwing their own team a vote to start the season. How can I take any poll seriously when the coaches who are voting aren’t taking it seriously?