ESPN Ranks Illinois Football's 2026 Recruiting Class Among Nation's Top 10

Last season Illinois football went 10-3, won a bowl game against South Carolina and now is set to return nearly every starter from the 2024 roster including star quarterback Luke Altmyer.

The expectations for 2025? Higher than the program has known in decades.

As for 2026, the roster will be heavily turned over and perhaps the expectations with it.

But the default option for most Illini fans regarding that topic: worry about that when the time comes.

Coach Bret Bielema and his staff couldn't take a more different view on that front, though.

The Illini coaches have put together a class of 2026 that is shaping up to be Illinois best recruiting haul of the century.

In ESPN's ranking of college football's top 25 recruiting classes , Illinois landed at a more-than-respectable No.

9.

Current Illini commits Nasir Rankin and Cam Thomas headline the class on the offensive and defensive sides, respectively.

What makes the news all the more impressive is that ESPN put together its rankings before the Illini landed four-star offensive tackle Kai Pritchard their second ESPN 300 commit (after Rankin).

And if that werent enough, Illinois also added the top recruit in the state of Connecticut (edge rusher Kayden Bennett) and three-star defensive back Isaiah Williams .

Still, the recruiting-rich Big Ten has a handful of schools with classes that outrank even Illinois', including Rutgers (No.

8), Penn State (No.

5), Ohio State (No.

2) and USC (No.

1) although, once again, the rankings were compiled prior to the trio of aforementioned commits.

Nonetheless, the message is clear: Illinois 10-win season doesn't have to be an anomaly.

Bielema has built a pipeline of talent that could make it simply the first chapter of a new era in Champaign.

More From Illinois on Sports Illustrated:.

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