'Most have said Illinois is the sleeping giant of the Big Ten. They just need someone to wake her up'

Illinois coach Bret Bielema greets fans on his way into Memorial Stadium for the home finale against Michigan State. For every national-attention-grabbing Illinois football season since the turn of the century, there’s been a frustratingly familiar follow-up the very next year — 10-2 in 2001, 5-7 in 2002; 9-4 in 2007, 5-7 in 2008; 8-5 in 2022, 5-7 in 2023. Could this time be different? Could Bret Bielema’s No.

21, 9-3, bowl-bound Illini — nationally ranked in the regular-season-ending AP Top 25 for the third time in the past 30 years — stay there in 2025 and beyond while competing in the bigger-than-ever Big Ten? For insights, we turned to a panel of college football insiders. Paul Finebaum “What Bret Bielema has accomplished is remarkable. And I’m not that surprised.



“I followed him from a distance at Wisconsin and from very close range at Arkansas — and he was always a superb coach. “He was very close to breaking through at Arkansas and it’s worth noting the program has done nothing since he left. “I believe this success is sustainable and anyone who believes this is a one-hit wonder doesn’t understand how good of a coach Bielema really is.

” Glen Mason “Most have said Illinois is the sleeping giant of the Big Ten. They just need someone to wake her up. “Bret may just be the guy.

Look at his background at Iowa and his Rose Bowl success at Wisconsin. “Why not? A lot of Badgers would like to buy him back. “I would not bet against Bielema.

” Stewart Mandel “Yes, I think Illinois can continue to win consistently under Bret Bielema, as this was the second time in three seasons they fielded a pretty good team. “From what we saw this season, the challenge going forward in the 18-team Big Ten is that schedule strength could swing wildly from one year to the next. “It may be hard to string together Top 25 seasons if you happen to get a bad draw one year, but eight-plus wins annually seems like a reasonable goal.

” Matt Hayes “NIL levels the playing field in college football, pushing the sport closer to a version of parity with every season. That, and the unbalanced conference schedule that allows a team to play one difficult game — and lose it — and make the College Football Playoff. “Can Illinois reach the CFP? Of course.

I don’t think any program, as long as it’s committed to spending in the NIL world, can’t make the CFP. “It’s still about player evaluation and development, and Bielema has a pretty good track record of that. But more NIL money spent brings greater expectations.

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