Let’s get on the hype train for…Illinois’ opponents?
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At the physically imposing stature of 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds (on my biggest day), you may be surprised to discover I’ve never played competitive football.
Shocking I know. With a build like mine, surely I could have been a force to be reckoned with on the gridiron. But alas, I’ve spent the bulk of my competitive days strolling the golf course.
Thank God.
However.
As a lifelong fan of football, I’ve come to learn a thing or two about its ongoings. And one thing I’ve come to realize is that no matter who your opponent might be, it’s always best to start the matchup with a healthy respect for your adversary. After all, since the start of the millennium, the No. 1 team in the country has lost to an unranked opponent 10 times.
We know something about that, don’t we?
So, in advance of the coming season, during which myself and fellow Illini faithful will try to convince ourselves why the Illini might have an edge over any foe they face, today we’ll do something different.
Join me, if you will, in a place I’d like to call the “Bright Side of the Dark Side” as we take a look at what Illinois’ 2026 opponents have to be hopeful about in the coming season.
UAB
The Blazers have had a difficult time finding their footing in the American Conference since joining the league in 2023, but UAB hopes that changes under new head coach Alex Mortensen. After two and a half seasons with Trent Dilfer guiding the team and only 9 total wins to speak for it, UAB AD Mark Ingram parted ways with Dilfer and promoted Mortensen from Offensive Coordinator to Interim Head Coach midway through the 2025 season.
With only the remains of an already broken season to operate from, Mortensen was able to pick up a ranked win over No. 22 Memphis and later capped off the season with the Blazers first road win since 2023. With 49 new players on the UAB roster, this is a new team under leadership that has already shown signs of competence.
DUKE
How can we start the Duke section by doing anything other than congratulating them on their 2025 ACC Championship? This was a team that per ESPN’s Football Power Index, should have been a Playoff team over Tulane (and if it weren’t for the Illini, they probably would have been).
Yes, the Blue Devils lost starting quarterback Darian Mensah to Miami in the offseason, but they picked up Walker Eget from San Jose State to continue their offensive prowess. Eget was 3rd in the Mountain West last year in passing yards, threw for 17 touchdowns, and was only sacked six times all year. I would not count on Duke to show significant regression, and I’d mark your calendars for Nov. 14 when they pay a visit to Darian Menah and the ‘Canes at Hard Rock in Miami.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
The Salukis are returning quarterback DJ Williams who last year rushed for 800 yards, racked up 2,800 passing yards, 40 total touchdowns and a mere 5 interceptions. As a team, the Salukis averaged 6 yards per carry in conference play, which led all teams in the MVFC.
None of that is possible without big boys up front. SIU will bring back four offensive linemen who started for them last year, (Derek Harden Jr., Blaine Halley, Jacob Katauskas, and Coleon Smith). They also added UAlbany transfer Luis Gastelum who played in 12 games last year along with Illinois transfer Kellen Francis.
The Salukis scored 36 a game last year. Expect the high scores to continue.
OHIO STATE
It must be incredible to be a fan of The Ohio State University football team. And I know that through years of continued success, player development, blah blah blah, they have put themselves into the position that they’re in today.
But it still feels unfair.
Ohio State is returning their 2025 Heisman Finalist, Julian Sayin, at quarterback.
His first option at wide receiver, Jeremiah Smith, is slated to be the best non-quarterback pick in the 2027 NFL draft.
Bo Jackson (who averaged over six yards per carry) and Isaiah West (who averaged over five yards per carry) are both back to handle the rushing attack. Don’t bet on significant regression for either of them: Their front four on the offensive line are all back too.
With multiple members of the 2025 Ohio State defense being taken early in the 2026 NFL draft, it may be difficult for the Buckeyes to replicate the dominance of last year’s season. However, Ohio State picks up transfers like James Smith who played 15 games for Alabama last year, and Terry Moore who had four interceptions for the ACC champion Duke Blue Devils to fill the gaps. And then they have the NFL caliber guidance of Matt Patricia to coordinate the defense. They’ll be fine.
Coaches Poll #1. AP Poll #1. It’s championship or bust for these guys.
PURDUE
It’s hard to find things to be particularly excited about for Purdue football this year. It almost feels as if the season has been pre-doomed by new Athletic Director Tommy McClelland claiming that the place to go to win championships is Purdue, not Indiana. This would have been a funny comment in 2023 when they were both dreadful, but now it’s just embarrassing.
Purdue has the worst projected win total in the Big Ten, and is tied for the lowest projected win total of any team Illinois will play this year.
Perhaps the best thing about Purdue is that they’re only returning about a third of their production from last season. In theory, this team should look more like a Barry Odom team and less like a Ryan Walters team. Maybe Odom will have the horses he’s looking for to take a step in the right direction.
MICHIGAN STATE
New Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald arrives in East Lansing a few years removed from one of the most bizarre sequences in recent college football history:
Fitzgerald’s lengthy tenure at Northwestern came to an abrupt halt in 2023 following allegations being made surrounding repeated hazing incidents involving the 2022 football program. Fitzgerald would then turn around and file a $130 million lawsuit against the university, which would ultimately be settled in August of 2025 leaving both sides expressing satisfaction with the result.
Bringing in players or coaches on the heels of messy public drama always carries some unwanted juju, but Fitzgerald was bound to end up somewhere. During his time at Northwestern, Fitzgerald led the team to ten bowl games, five bowl wins, and three ten win seasons. Somebody was going to give him another shot.
Sparty hasn’t been to a bowl game since 2021 under Mel Tucker. That relationship crashed and burned due to a scandal of Tucker’s own.
Michigan State has been under the thumb of big brother Michigan for the better part of the last decade. They need some grit to get them back on track; if nothing else, it would seem Pat Fitzgerald is no quitter. Perhaps he’ll be the guy to provide the juice they need.
OREGON
The Ducks, as they so often are, are loaded with talent for the coming season (and if it weren’t for Ohio State, they’d be the team to beat). Oregon’s quarterback Dante Moore is one of the early frontrunners to win the Hesiman. He’ll have a projected 2028 first round draft pick in Dakorien Moore to throw to, along with 5th year senior Iverson Hooks who brought in a whopping 72 receptions for UAB last year.
A fantastic Oregon defense of 2025 stands to be even better this season; the entire defensive front four is expected to be in the NFL at this time next year.
This Oregon team has all of the intangibles to win a National Championship. It’s just a matter of whether or not they can rise to the challenge when they meet a comparable foe- something they have struggled with over the past few years.
MARYLAND
Anytime you can enter the coming season ranked in the top five nationally in a meaningful statistic, that’s a good sign:
The 2026 Maryland football squad is set to bring back 71% of its production from the prior year’s roster, ranked second in the country behind only Notre Dame. While the production in question wasn’t always terrific, what this team needs is an opportunity to get back on its feet.
In the last two college football seasons, Maryland has gone 7-1 in its first four games of each season.
During that same two seasons, Maryland went 1-15 during the latter eight games of each year.
So they start hot. But they finish cold.
Maryland is staring at a great opportunity in 2026 to get off to the same hot start, with the most difficult opponent in the first four-game stretch being a home game against UCLA. If the Terps can regain a winning identity early in the year, one stands to believe that the production cohesion of the year prior might yield success deeper into the season than we’ve seen in the past two years.
NEBRASKA
Nebraska said goodbye to the man who is now undoubtedly the country’s #1 backup quarterback, Dylan Raiola, and welcomed Anthony Colandrea from UNLV. Colandrea racked up 23 touchdowns for UNLV and nearly 3,500 yards passing, earning him the honor of being the Mountain West’s offensive player of the year in 2025.
Nebraska is the favorite in each of their first five games (including a pair of bottom half Big Ten foes). If they can traverse that stretch blemish free, they’ll have the opportunity to host defending champion Indiana in Lincoln as an undefeated (and probably ranked) team. Assuming Indiana is who they’re expected to be, that matchup might warrant a visit from College Gameday or Big Noon Saturday. It’s not unfathomable to imagine the splurge of energy from the national spotlight might move the needle in what would otherwise be an assumed win for Indiana.
The overall talent on the Nebraska roster probably won’t prove capable of exceeding their 6.5 win total by a significant margin (or beating Indiana), but with a strong start, they’ll almost certainly go bowling. A ranked win over the Hoosiers and they may trick themselves (and the media) into thinking they could be a Playoff team.
UCLA
The bulk of potential optimism for the coming season of Bruins football lies in the question-
Can the James Madison experiment work AGAIN?
Yes, like Indiana did with Curt Cignetti and many of the players he coached at JMU, UCLA is importing the most recent James Madison head coach, Bob Chesney, along with many of his players and coaches to lead the UCLA program. The argument could be made that this may be a safer bet than when Cignetti was hired at Indiana because Chesney has already proven he can succeed at the FBS level (which included a College Football Playoff appearance for JMU).
But will it be a better bet? Probably not- but that’s because Cignetti has set the bar incredibly high.
IOWA
The good news for Iowa going into this season is that they’re still Iowa.
They’ll still be coached by Kirk Ferentz. Phil Parker will continue to be the defensive coordinator.
Iowa will return a strong offensive line and their leading rusher from the prior season, Kamari Moulton. Safety Zach Lutmer has appeared on some draft boards as high as a second round pick for the 2027 season.
Iowa is going to pound the ball and force you to take chances on offense. Iowa may not win every game this season, but don’t expect them to give many away.
The only downside for Iowa…is they’ll still be Iowa. This team is going to operate on slim margins against their better opponents. The Hawkeyes will start the Big Ten season at Michigan, hosting Ohio State, and going to Washington. Should this team win two of those three, they’ll be thinking Playoffs. Should they lose them all…well, the schedule will get easier.
NORTHWESTERN
It’s hard to decide what’s more exciting-
The opening of the coziest stadium that $850 million can buy.
Or the arrival of National Championship winning coordinator Chip Kelly to guide the offense.
Why not both? Both are good.
The era of NIL payments and booster funds in college football had Northwestern stumbling out of the gate as the team went 4-20 in their last two seasons under Pat Fitzgerald (a guy who had led Northwestern to five 9+ win seasons during the prior 17 seasons). However, since David Braun has arrived the team has gone a respectable 19-19 and is starting to recruit talent that the upper echelon programs would be happy to have on their campus.
Due to a challenging schedule that includes going to Indiana, Oregon, and Ohio State, Northwestern’s a 50/50 team to reach a bowl. Even so, don’t be surprised to see them exceed that with a newfound home field advantage. Northwestern is putting the pieces together to act like a true Big Ten team; they’re starting to look the part too.
And there you have it. That’s the last time you can expect to see anything positive about any of these teams from me until the season ends in January. Until then- Victory. Illinoisssssss.
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