Illinois wants to be this year's Indiana. Can Bret Bielema ride Big Ten sleeper status to the CFP?

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.

Navy-and-orange billboards line I-74 through central Illinois from near the Mississippi River on the west to the Indiana border on the east.

One reads I-L-L.

The next one: I-N-I.

They alternate sporadically, weaving between communities, rest stops and hundreds, if not thousands, of orange cones that match the surroundings but have no connection to the states flagship university.

Advertisement Illinois football coach Bret Bielema calls this main artery of the state his home.

He grew up on a farm near Prophetstown, Ill., about 30 miles from the Quad Cities near the Iowa-Illinois border and two hours northwest of the Illinois campus.

He played high school football against programs up and down this highway and recruited the area as an assistant at Iowa, then as head coach at Wisconsin and now at Illinois.

When Bielema stops at a gas station, whether its in Champaign-Urbana or elsewhere in central Illinois, he conducts a little test.

On recruiting trips as an assistant at Wisconsin, Bielema learned from Barry Alvarez to watch offensive linemen move while stacking groceries to see whether they could block for the Badgers.

At Illinois, Bielema applies the instinctual lessons of his hall-of-fame coaching mentor to gauge fan interest.

When theyre losing, he gets ignored at convenience stores.

Thats not happening these days.

I just turned it into the gas station.

Like, what happens at the gas station? Bielema said.

People come up to me and say, Coach, Im so excited about what youre doing.

I take my daughters to school, and Ill walk through the hallways, and Ill see a million Illinois sweatshirts on and T-shirts.

I just dont think it was that way two or three years ago.

Illinois football is cool again, and the conversations at gas stations and elementary schools throughout the I-74 corridor revolve as much around the football Illini as their more historically successful basketball brethren.

You see the impact that it has on a community like this who hadnt experienced a whole lot of Ws, Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer said.

To see what we created and did last year with a historic season, and to see the way that has brought a community together and really united fans and our program, its cool to see a lot of happy people.

Advertisement The Fighting Illini won 10 games last year for the first time since 2001 and just the fifth time ever, highlighted by a win against defending national champion Michigan and a Citrus Bowl victory against College Football Playoff bubble team South Carolina.

That itself was reason to celebrate, but it doesnt explain all the enthusiasm surrounding this program this spring.

With 16 returning starters and a favorable schedule, Illinois deserves more buzz than a patronizing cap tip to 2024.

Four of the Illinis five starting offense linemen started all 13 games last year; four of their five first-team defensive backs started at least 12 games.

If the helmets and jerseys featured a different logo and color patterns, Illinois might be favored to win the 18-team Big Ten.

As it stands, the Illini have a legitimate path to enter the College Football Playoff debate.

Some people may scoff, considering Illinois reputation as a perennial underachiever.

But Indiana showed everyone last year that its possible to jump from Big Ten bottom feeder to CFP participant.

A new coach, an influx of financial resources, shrewd transfer portal moves and an advantageous schedule led to a special season for the program with the worst winning percentage in Big Ten history.

Illinois is building off a much stronger foundation now than Indiana did last year, but the Illini lack the element of surprise.

I dont think it does anything but help football, right? Bielema said about Indianas on-field breakthrough.

Theres never been a time where each year is independently different, no matter what school youre at, because of the playing field thats being established through the NIL and portal world.

You could change your roster on a flip of a hat.

And that excites me.

Entering Year 5, every player on Illinois roster is a Bielema guy, and the coachs mantra of Tough, Smart and Dependable is so embedded that his current and former players tout the acronym TSD as the programs DNA.

A core of four star players chose to return rather than seek the highest bidder in the transfer portal or leave for the NFL.

All four compete at premium positions and are considered among the Big Tens best at those spots.

Advertisement Left tackle J.C.

Davis received an extra year when a court ruled in December that junior college experience did not count toward NCAA eligibility.

Instead of staying in Florida after the Citrus Bowl to train for the draft, Davis chose another season in Champaign.

I didnt want to leave Illinois, no matter what, Davis said.

It was either go to the league or stay here.

I wasnt thinking about leaving Illinois because I feel like they did so much for me and my family, too.

So, I felt like I owed them that.

Like Davis, edge rusher Gabe Jacas and first-team All-Big Ten cornerback Xavier Scott postponed their NFL careers, and Illinois made it financially worth their while.

Illinois ICON Collective has become pivotal in the programs retention efforts, and it counts several central Illinois and Chicagoland businesses as key sponsors.

Illini basketballs popularity could create friction as both programs compete for top talent, but that wasnt a problem this offseason.

Outside of losing rotational running back Josh McCray to Georgia this spring, Illinois maintained its football roster (while also picking up key basketball recruits in the portal).

We said, Hey, this is what we have allocated.

This is what the number is, Bielema said.

Heres what I do know: If you do what youre capable of doing over the next year, this will be the smallest contract youll ever sign.

(Former defensive tackle) Johnny Newton signed for $250,000 and then ended up being, what, the fourth pick in the second round (of the 2024 NFL Draft)? And what he signed for was tenfold what he signed for us because he knew what was at the end of the tunnel.

Anybody wants that money.

I mean, it definitely helped a little bit, Scott said.

But I definitely want to accomplish some of those accolades.

Expectations are going to be different for us coming in this year.

Few players embody more of Illinois tenets or 2025 potential than Altmyer, a former Ole Miss transfer.

Illinois provided the quarterback with an opportunity at a power-conference program, and he has used his three-year window in Champaign to grow into an all-conference candidate under offensive coordinator Barry Lunney.

After an inconsistent 2023 campaign, Altmyer led the Illini to four top-25 victories last season and tossed three game-winning touchdown passes in the final minute of regulation or in overtime.

Among Big Ten returnees, only Penn States Drew Allar threw more touchdown passes in 2024.

Altmyer had options after last season, whether thats moving on to the NFL or transferring for more money.

Ultimately, he decided Illinois offered the right opportunity for a special season.

Advertisement What we could really accomplish coming off last year to this year could really change the course of this program and the perspective that people have on Illinois, Altmyer said.

So it was bigger than me.

It really is.

And I knew that I needed another year of college, too.

Theres no secret that I could have taken another opportunity somewhere else, but, man, I didnt see the need in that because weve got a real legitimate shot and chance to do something special at a program that hadnt done it ever or in a long time.

Located in the nations sixth-most populous state, Illinois has only one other power-conference program within its border, and thats private school Northwestern.

Champaign sits near the confluence of three major roadways, just two-hour drives from Chicago and Indianapolis and only a few minutes farther to St.

Louis in the opposite direction.

But the program that boasts statues of first-among-equals greats Red Grange and Dick Butkus slipped into irrelevance while watching league rivals pick the state apart over decades of recruiting battles.

Since 1992, only once has Illinois reached back-to-back bowl games, and that was a pair of 7-6 seasons in 2010 and 11.

The pattern has included a Big Ten championship in 2001 and a Rose Bowl trip in 2007, followed by 5-7 finishes in 02 and 08.

Bielema also fell victim to it after 2022s 8-5 campaign, losing three stretch-run conference games by four points or fewer en route to a 5-7 record in 2023.

This years team vows to be different.

It was cool having a 10-win season, but that dont carry on to next year, said Jacas, who had 13 tackles for loss and eight sacks in 2024.

We cant be complacent just because we won 10 games last year.

To go along with a solid roster, Illinois has the perfect schedule to make a Big Ten run.

The Illinis nine Big Ten opponents were a combined 33-48 in league play in 2024, and only two (Indiana, Ohio State) sported winning league records.

For the second consecutive season, they play the defending national champion in Champaign; this time its the Buckeyes.

Everything is lining up for the Illini to make a move, but now they have to take advantage.

Bielema said the outside world views Illinois as a contender based on the wins against Michigan and South Carolina.

He instead is wired to think about last years losses to Oregon, Penn State and Minnesota.

The mission is to reach the Big Ten championship game, which would all but guarantee the Illini a CFP spot.

Advertisement For now, Bielema balances his focus on daily program goals with external optimism through conversations with fans wearing the block I.

But keeping that dialogue alive takes ongoing work, like the never-ending rows of orange construction cones along I-74.

If you try to think beyond that, youll never get there, Bielema said.

Its kind of like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Youve got to believe it exists, but if you go to try to find it, youll never enjoy the journey.

Weve got to focus on the daily journey, because thats the only thing I know, proven in my mind, that gets us where we need to be.

(Photo: Michael Hickey / Getty Images).

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