Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 61. Illinois
Illini War Chant is the best fight song in football
For some reason, whenever I hear Red Grange’s name, I imagine Family Guy’s depiction of Tony Robbins saying it, the one where he eats Peter. I don’t know, it just fits for me. Anyway, I will put respect on the Grange’s name, voted the best college football player in history by ESPN in 2008. Grange was a 3x consensus All-American and national champion in 1923, and is the best of many great players throughout the Illini’s history. A guy named Dick Butkus was really good too. Take a walk with me, and let’s see why Illinois ended up this high despite just 3 winning seasons in the last 15 years.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+----------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+----------+------+--------------+--------+
| 10 | Illinois | 1989 | 33.206 | 10-2 |
| 9 | Illinois | 1983 | 29.401 | 10-2 |
| 12 | Illinois | 2001 | 26.497 | 10-2 |
| 21 | Illinois | 2007 | 20.237 | 9-4 |
| 19 | Illinois | 1999 | 13.666 | 8-4 |
| 26 | Illinois | 1990 | 12.393 | 8-4 |
| 32 | Illinois | 1984 | 9.406 | 7-4 |
| 33 | Illinois | 2022 | 8.563 | 8-5 |
| 29 | Illinois | 1994 | 8.008 | 7-5 |
| 37 | Illinois | 2010 | 5.224 | 7-6 |
| 42 | Illinois | 1995 | 2.491 | 5-5-1 |
| 39 | Illinois | 1985 | 0.604 | 6-5-1 |
| 39 | Illinois | 1991 | -0.167 | 6-6 |
| 45 | Illinois | 1988 | -1.541 | 6-5-1 |
| 43 | Illinois | 1992 | -2.522 | 6-5-1 |
| 59 | Illinois | 2011 | -5.816 | 7-6 |
| 47 | Illinois | 1993 | -7.134 | 5-6 |
| 71 | Illinois | 2021 | -10.688 | 5-7 |
| 64 | Illinois | 2002 | -10.717 | 5-7 |
| 64 | Illinois | 2008 | -11.868 | 5-7 |
| 70 | Illinois | 2019 | -12.188 | 6-7 |
| 75 | Illinois | 2014 | -13.085 | 6-7 |
| 71 | Illinois | 2000 | -16.651 | 5-6 |
| 70 | Illinois | 1986 | -17.66 | 4-7 |
| 80 | Illinois | 2015 | -18.286 | 5-7 |
| 69 | Illinois | 1987 | -21.91 | 3-7-1 |
| 90 | Illinois | 2013 | -25.664 | 4-8 |
| 106 | Illinois | 2020 | -31.135 | 2-6 |
| 101 | Illinois | 2009 | -31.245 | 3-9 |
| 93 | Illinois | 2004 | -33.674 | 3-8 |
| 104 | Illinois | 2018 | -36.44 | 4-8 |
| 107 | Illinois | 2016 | -37.73 | 3-9 |
| 97 | Illinois | 1998 | -38.545 | 3-8 |
| 104 | Illinois | 2006 | -41.897 | 2-10 |
| 98 | Illinois | 1996 | -43.621 | 2-9 |
| 107 | Illinois | 2005 | -46.389 | 2-9 |
| 114 | Illinois | 2017 | -46.993 | 2-10 |
| 111 | Illinois | 2012 | -50.875 | 2-10 |
| 110 | Illinois | 2003 | -54.594 | 1-11 |
| 109 | Illinois | 1997 | -62.207 | 0-11 |
+------+----------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 15975 (61st)202-264-5 record
3 conference titles
5-10 bowl record
9 consensus All-Americans
101 NFL players drafted
Illinois is our first team with 100+ players drafted! A ton of talented players have come out of Illinois in the last 40 years, and the 80’s were especially rich, with 28 players drafted from 1984-88. The most notable alumni since 1983 have been DE Simeon Rice, QB Jeff George, CB Vontae Davis, WR Brandon Lloyd, DT Corey Liuget, and recent 1st round pick CB Devon Witherspoon. Illinois’ Big Ten-winning 1990 team under John Mackovic (the coach, not the actor) narrowly misses the top 5 at #6, a year where they had wins over #9 Colorado, #20 Ohio State, and #24 Michigan State. Consensus All-Americans include 2x All-American WR David Williams (1984, 1985), 2x Big Ten Defensive POTY LB Dana Howard (1994), NCAA 2011 sack leader, forced fumbles leader, and Ted Hendricks Award winner DL Whitney Mercilus (2011), and CB Devon Witherspoon (2022).
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 1997 (0-11 overall, 0-8 Big Ten)
I have them as the 4th worst team in 1997. It was a year of many bad results, with losses of 7-24 to Southern Miss, 6-41 to Penn State, 3-48 to Purdue, and 6-41 to Ohio State, but by far the worst was a 13-26 loss to Louisville. The Cardinals were 1-10 that year, in Conference USA, with their lone win over the Illini. Even though it was a tough strength of schedule (22nd), they really did not make the most of it. The QBs combined for just 7 TD to 22 INT. RB Robert Holcombe was the lone player on the team drafted in the first 4 rounds over the next 4 years, rushing for 1000+ yards for the third straight season and getting drafted in the 2nd round by the St. Louis Rams. Kicker Neil Rackers was just 5/10 on FGs, but would go on to start for 12 years in the NFL.
5. 1999 (8-4 overall, 4-4 Big Ten)
Up until 1999, Illinois football had been middling for about a decade, and really tailed off in the mid-1990s, going just 5-28 from 1996-98. A 3-0 start sparked hope, but it came against paltry competition, and they fell to 3-3 when Big Ten play began. A 7-37 loss to Minnesota at Homecoming was especially poignant. Down 7-27 to #9 Michigan, it seemed like the Illini were headed for another losing season, but everything changed in the 4th quarter of that game. Illinois stormed back, shutting down Tom Brady and Drew Henson for a 35-29 upset win. Following a loss to #2 Penn State, Illinois went unbeaten the rest of the way, with wins like 46-20 over #25 Ohio State, and 63-21 over Virginia in the bowl. A 40-24 win over Iowa in that streak featured 4 FGs and a TD reception from kicker Neil Rackers, and 103 receiving yards from future NFL WR Brandon Lloyd. Sophomore Kurt Kittner proved himself to be the QB of the future, throwing for 2702 yards and 24 TD with just 5 INT. Rackers and LS Nate Hodel would go on to play with each other in the NFL, their careers overlapping with the Arizona Cardinals from 2003-08.
4. 2007 (9-4 overall, 6-2 Big Ten)
Juice! QB Juice Williams, Big Ten defenses used to hate this guy, especially Ohio State fans. Coming off a 2-10 season, Illinois was expected to be in the cellar in 2007. That narrative changed with wins over #21 Penn State and #5 Wisconsin by midseason. RB Rashard Mendenhall ran for 160 yards and 2 TD on 19 carries in the 31-26 win over Wisconsin, and Illinois was 5-1 halfway through the year. A few wins and losses later, Illinois was 7-3, bowl bound, and it was a job well done by Ron Zook and his staff. Except they weren’t done yet. Illinois marched into Columbus to face #1 Ohio State, a Buckeye team that had won 28 straight regular season games dating back to 2005. Illinois forced 3 turnovers, Juice threw 4 TD and ran for 70 yards, and Illinois walked out victorious with a 28-21 soul-snatching win. With a win over Northwestern in their final game and Ohio State winning out to make the national title game, Illinois earned their first Rose Bowl bid since 1983 as the next man up in the B1G. They did their best against a loaded USC team, putting up 445 yards of offense, but 4 turnovers and 633 yards allowed did them in for a 17-49 loss.
Illinois finished the year at #20, tied for second in the Big Ten. Juice threw for 13 TD 12 INT while rushing for 755 yards and 7 TD, and would go on to become Illinois’ career total yardage leader. RB Rashard Mendenhall won Big Ten Offensive POTY, rushing for nearly 1700 yards with 17 TD on 6.4 YPC. Future NFL 2nd round pick Arrelious Benn led in receiving with 676 yards, and three offensive linemen made 1st/2nd Team All-Big Ten. The defense was loaded as well, with LB J Leman earning consensus All-American with 132 tackles and 10.5 total TFL. Future NFL Pro Bowl CB Vontae Davis earned 1st Team All-Big Ten with 4 INTs, and DL Will Davis led the team with 9.5 sacks.
3. 2001 (10-2 overall, 7-1 Big Ten)
After their great 8-4 year in 1999, Illinois fell back to reality with a 5-6 injury-riddled Y2K season. But everyone was healthy again, it was time to get to work. A 3-0 start saw some struggles against Northern Illinois, but also a big 34-10 win over #25 Louisville. That got Illinois momentarily into the top 25 before losing to Michigan, and they were now 3-1. Illinois won game after game, beating Minnesota, Indiana, Wisconsin to move up to #21. A Big Ten title wasn’t really that realistic yet, Michigan had yet to lose in conference play and Illinois had their toughest games ahead. But on November 3rd, Illinois blew out #20 Purdue 38-13, and Michigan lost as well in an upset. Both teams were tied atop the conference now with 1 loss each, Michigan still holding the tiebreaker though. Both teams won their next two, Illinois over Penn State and #25 Ohio State. The Illini were 9-1 and all the way up to #10, which is absurd. Illinois beat Northwestern to move to 10-1 and claim a share of the Big Ten title, and two days later, Michigan lost to Ohio State, putting Illinois solely in first place for a unanimous conference title. With the Rose Bowl hosting the national title that year, Illinois faced #12 LSU in the Sugar Bowl, losing 34-47 and finishing #12 themselves.
QB Kurt Kittner finished his career as arguably Illinois’ greatest QB ever, throwing for ~3000 yards 23 TD 13 INT and earning 2nd Team All-Big Ten. WR “Big Play” Brandon Lloyd was 2nd Team as well, with 60 catches for 1006 yards and 8 TD. C Luke Butkus, nephew of Dick, also made the 2nd Team. Illinois’ 4 DBs combined for 15 interceptions, with 3 players making 1st/2nd Team All-Big Ten.
2. 1983 (10-2 overall, 9-0 Big Ten)
Illinois fans thanking me the cutoff is 40 years and not 39. This team was nuts. They lost to Missouri in the opener…then won the rest of their regular season games. They were the first team in Big Ten history to go 9-0, and were the only team to do so until 2017 Wisconsin achieved it. After a 2-1 start, they beat #4 Iowa 33-0. Yes, 33-0. Just two weeks later, they’d beat #6 Ohio State 17-13. If that wasn’t enough, two weeks later they beat #8 Michigan 16-6. By the end of the year, Illinois was #4 in the Rose Bowl facing unranked 6-4-1 UCLA. In one of the most WTF scorelines I’ve seen, UCLA won 45-9, outgaining Illinois by more than 300 yards. This was the first time an unranked team had beaten a top 5 team in a bowl game, and it was by 36 points. Still, Illinois finished #10 as the Big Ten champions in a tremendous year. Mike White won Walter Camp Coach of the Year. DE Don Thorp won Big Ten MVP and was an All-American, joined on the All-American team by OT Jim Juriga and S Craig Swoope. WR David Williams finished top 3 in the Big Ten in receiving with 870 yards, and would go on to become one of Illinois’ best ever players as a 2x consensus All-American. A whopping 21 players from this team were drafted into the NFL over the next 3 years.
1. 1989 (10-2 overall, 7-1 Big Ten)
Led by 1990 NFL #1 overall pick QB Jeff George, this team was generational. In the opener, they were down 0-13 to #5 USC with just 6 minutes left, but George managed to bounce a throw off a USC defender into the hands of his receiver for their first TD of the game. Calculated. They’d score another to win 14-13. Following a loss to #8 Colorado (who’d finish the regular season 11-0), Illinois won 6 straight to improve to 7-1 and #8 in the country, setting up a matchup for first place in the Big Ten with #3 Michigan. Michigan won 24-10, but Illinois won out to finish the regular season 9-2. In his final college game, Jeff George threw 3 TD passes against #16 Virginia in the Citrus Bowl, winning 31-21 for Illinois’ 10th win, tying a school record. They finished #10 in the AP Poll, tied for their highest since 1963. George won the Sammy Baugh Trophy, throwing for 2738 yards with 22 TD 12 INT, and was the #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. DT Moe Gardner was a consensus All-American, and would repeat in 1990.
5th Quarter
Are you surprised at Illinois’ rank, thought they’d be lower or higher? Do they deserve their spot of #1 team in Illinois over NIU and Northwestern? How can Illinois recapture the magic of those 1980s teams? What’s your favorite Illinois moment/player/play/game? Should their 2022 squad have been a top 5 season? If you paired Juice Williams and Rashard Mendenhall with the 2022 defense, is that a top 10 team in 2023?
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