Despite defensive overhauls, Bret Bielema’s squad claims a top-half ranking, signaling a new era of competitive stability as they prepare to challenge the conference's elite heavyweights.
The University of Illinois football program has come a long way as evidenced by the most recent Big Ten Media preseason poll.
In a year where head coach Bret Bielema is transitioning the entire defense into a completely new scheme, the Illini are still being given credit by being ranked at No. 9 in the preseason Big Ten Media poll done by Cleveland.com. The Big Ten Conference does not release a poll of their own and so the cleveland.com poll has been the unofficial one since 2011.
The poll placed Illinois ninth, behind Ohio State, Oregon, defending National Champion Indiana, USC, Michigan, Penn State, Washington, and Iowa.
For Illinois, the No. 9 ranking shows that despite the massive changes happening this offseason, they are still respected enough to be projected as a top-half Big Ten team. The conference consists of multiple teams at the top who are capable of winning the National Championship. Illinois will two of those teams in the upcoming season when they travel to Columbus to play Ohio State and host the Oregon Ducks at Gies Memorial Stadium.
Given the ninth ranking gives fans a baseline for which to judge the upcoming season by. It suggests they are not quite in the top tier of the conference where the National Champion has been represented for three years running now in the conference. But by being in the middle tier, the team is going to be talented enough to still compete every weekend and may provide a pivotal role in deciding the eventual conference champion.
The placement gives credence to the job coach Bielema has done since he arrived in Champaign. The Illini have won 19 games in the past two seasons, which is unprecedented for their football program. Along with the victory totals, the Illini have also defeated SEC opponents in bowl games in back-to-back seasons.
Whether they can continue on the trajectory will largely depend on the defensive side of the football. Illinois parted ways with their defensive coordinator Aaron Henry who went to Notre Dame and hired college football legend Bobby Hauck to bring his 3-3-5 defense to Champaign.
After Illinois, Minnesota is listed at number 10, followed by Nebraska, Wisconsin, UCLA, Northwestern, Maryland, Michigan State, Rutgers and finally Purdue. Having such big brand names in the middle of the conference shows just how deep the talent level of the conference is.
The poll was released on the eve of Big Ten Media Days which officially kicks off on Tuesday in downtown Chicago. Bret Bielema will be the first head coach to speak to the media. Bielema has led off Media Days for three years straight now, as he tends to be one of the most boisterous and prideful coaches who does not mind trading jabs with others including the SEC who had their media days last week.
If Bielema can get his Illini to finish ninth or better this upcoming season, expect him to continue to get one of the most coveted slots during the week for years to come.
