The Illinois football fanbase can only rest on our laurels so long, as the 2026 season is on the horizon.
It has been a pretty magical run for the Orange and Blue. We have notched back-to-back nine-win campaigns, with the 2024 season reaching 10 wins for the first time since 2001.
The Athletic doesn’t care about that. They are focused on what lies ahead in 2026, and they don’t think Illinois has anything to write home about on the roster.
On Sunday, The Athletic released their Preseason All-Big Ten teams. This preseason write-up goes three teams deep, so they aren’t just looking at the best of the best.
To no surprise, Illinois was left off the first team. We are going through a bit of a transition, and we don’t have a highly regarded player, like Gabe Jacas, coming into the 2026 season.
Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin edges out Oregon’s Dante Moore, USC’s Jayden Maiava and Washington’s Demond Williams Jr. for preseason All-Big Ten honors in The Athletic’s analysis.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) July 26, 2026
See the complete first, second and third teams here: https://t.co/jeCWgmNDTD pic.twitter.com/x5U6HnicYy
What baffled me, and really was kind of a gut punch, was the fact that The Athletic didn’t have much in the way of good feelings for the Illini at all. Out of the three All-Big Ten teams, only one Illinois players made the list.
Defensive back Xavier Scott made the preseason second team All-Big Ten. A player who only played three games last season and missed the rest of the year due to an ankle injury. That is the only player Illinois landed on all three teams.
I broke the three teams down to see which programs had the most and fewest All-Big Ten selections.
The most was Oregon at 13 players. Ohio State and Indiana followed with 11 and 10 players, respectively. Now, let’s get to the bottom.
Four programs tied for rock bottom of the Big Ten. Illinois had one player on the All-Big Ten teams, and they were joined by Purdue, UCLA, and Washington.
There were a few Illinois football players I could have made a case to be on one of the preseason All-Big Ten teams
It is a bit jarring not to see more Illinois players on the three All-Big Ten teams. Illinois has had 19 wins in the last two seasons, and this rattled me a little.
With that being said, I don’t think this is any indication of what is to come this season. Illinois has some good players, and we should be able to compete in the top half of the Big Ten.
I could also make an argument for a couple of players who could have easily made one of the All-Big Ten teams.
Collin Dixon had 35 receptions for 548 yards and five touchdowns last season for the Illini. He fell short of someone like USC’s Tanook Hines, who had 34 receptions for 561 yards and just two touchdowns.
It wouldn’t have shocked me to see Ca’Lil Valentine's name on the list either. He had 614 yards and four touchdowns as a rotational running back last season. This is his backfield in 2026. He could have made the list over someone like Waymond Jordan from USC, who had 576 yards and five touchdowns in 2025.
There were plenty of players for Illinois who had to have been knocking on the door of making one of these preseason All-Big Ten teams. Now they have us as bottom dwellers, and hopefully that increases the size of the chip on our shoulder.
Add us as a preferred source on Google