The Illinois football season is 15 days away, as the team gears up for its 100th season at Memorial Stadium. The Illini are coming off a 5-7 record last year, with several close losses, including a bowl-eliminating defeat to in-state rival Northwestern in Week 12.

ESPN released its FPI projections for every Illinois football game in 2024. Given that college football is an unpredictable sport, the projections don’t exactly predict how the Illini will finish.

BetMGM sees Illinois’ over/under win total at 5.5 wins, which is on the fringe of a bowl berth. If Illinois were to qualify for a bowl game, it would be its first appearance since Jan. 2023.

FPI Prediction: Illinois has a 97.8% chance to win.

Illinois opens the season with a nonconference matchup against Eastern Illinois, its first of three straight home games to begin the season. Despite Eastern Illinois finishing 8-3, it never faced a ranked FBS or notable opponent, whereas Illinois played the best of the best in the Big Ten. Barring anything catastrophic, the ESPN FPI sees a near-guaranteed win for Illinois and to begin 1-0.

FPI Prediction: Illinois has a 30.2% to win.

Illinois will see a tougher matchup for its Week 2 rematch with the Kansas Jayhawks from 2023. This was Illinois’ first FBS loss a year ago and ESPN expects a similar story here. Kansas finished 9-4 after a 5-1 start, hanging on to beat Illinois 34-23. The FPI doesn’t give the Illini the greatest of margains, coming in at 30.2%. If ESPN’s projections hold true, Illinois will enter its homecoming game 1-1.

FPI Prediction: Illinois has a 79.1% chance to win

Another winnable game ends Illinois’s three-game homestand against Central Michigan. While Illinois has been prone to home upset losses (including a 2019 last-minute defeat to Eastern Michigan), ESPN gives Illinois nearly an 80% chance to win, putting Illinois’ record at 2-1 entering Big Ten competition.

FPI Prediction: ESPN does not have one for this game

Illinois and Nebraska meet for the fourth time in the last six years, but this time, the game is in Lincoln, Nebraska. Illinois lost to the Cornhuskers 20-7 last year, where the Illini struggled to move the ball and never led during the entire game. ESPN likely sees the game as a coin flip, given that Matt Rhule was on the doorstep of the best season in recent Cornhuskers history. It’s Illinois Big Ten opener and the first of back-to-back Big Ten road games.

FPI Prediction: Illinois has an 8.3% chance to win

Illinois lost to Penn State last year, as the Nittany Lions exacted revenge from an nine-overtime thriller two years prior. Penn State is one of the perennial favorites to contend for a College Football Playoff berth, making the Illini’s second Happy Valley trip under Bret Bielema a potentially taller order than its previous meeting.

FPI Prediction: Illinois has a 58% chance to win

Illinois attempts to reclaim the Cannon Trophy when it welcomes Purdue and Ryan Walters into Champaign for a mid-October tilt. It is Walters’ first trip to Champaign in two seasons, where he once served as the team’s defensive coordinator. The Illini will likely need a win here to stay in bowl contention, as it was trounced in West Lafayette 44-19 last year, Illinois’ first road conference game of the season. Illinois has been given a 58% chance to win, as Purdue is still in rebuild mode entering Walters’ second year.

FPI Prediction: Illinois has a 20.4% chance to win

The defending national champion Michigan Wolverines come to Champaign in an attempt to spoil Illinois’ Memorial Stadium Rededication celebration, honoring its 100-year history. By this point in the season, the Wolverines will likely be unbeaten or have one loss, needing to stay in the thick of the College Football Playoff discussion. Given the tall task, ESPN isn’t a fan of the Illini’s chances, chalking it up as a potential loss at a 20.4% win probability, similar to their encounters with the Wolverines in 2022 in Ann Arbor and 2019, which was also in Champaign.

FPI Prediction: Illinois has a 5.5% chance to win

The most challenging game on Illinois’ schedule comes in late-October when it travels cross country for the first time in the new 18-team Big Ten to Eugene, Oregon. The Ducks are another potential Big Ten powerrhouse who will likely be fighting for their Big Ten and CFP title possibilities by that point in the season. ESPN projects this game to be a near-miracle potential upset for Illinois, giving it a 5% chance to win based on the FPI Power Index.

FPI Prediction: Illinois has a 54% chance to win

The Illini get Minnesota on Dad’s Weekend for the first time in five years, as this is a team Illinois has gotten the better of in the last several years. Illinois won a thriller in Minneapolis in 2023 thanks to a late John Paddock touchdown pass near the end of regulation, putting a dent in the Golden Gophers’ Big Ten West title hopes. Despite high expectations nearly every year under P.J. Fleck, the Gophers seem to fizzle out once the calendar turns to November, which is arguably why ESPN likes Illinois to earn another home win.

FPI Prediction: Illinois has a 60.4% chance to win

Unlike its neighbors, Michigan State might actually be an easier matchup for Illinois, given that ESPN’s FPI heavily favors the Illini at 60.4%. The Spartans are under an entirely new regime in the aftermath of coach Mel Tucker’s firing and will likely be playing for pride and poise this late in the season. The Spartans did upset Illinois in 2022, effectively ending its near stranglehold on the Big Ten West with just a few games remaining, but both of these teams are in much different places. Not to mention, it’s Senior Day for Illinois, potentially adding extra motivation for the team.

FPI Prediction: Illinois has a 33% chance to win.

Simply put, Rutgers is a better team on paper, hence ESPN’s lower chances for Illinois at 33%. But, Bielema has been prone to pulling off road upsets before, including a last-second win at Maryland in mid-October a season ago.

FPI Prediction: Illinois has a 44.2% chance to win

The Illini are seeking their first win over the Wildcats in two seasons. The game is not a true road game for Illinois because the game will be taking place in a neutral site, the home of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field. Both fanbases will likely appear in droves, as bowl implications could be at stake. Although Northwestern is projected to win, per ESPN, it’s close quarters, with the Illini coming in with a 44.2% chance of bringing home the Land of Lincoln Trophy again.

Illinois is seeking its second winning season under Bielema, as it finished 8-5 in 2022-2023, losing to Mississippi State in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

Zain Bando is a contributor to Illinois Fighting Illini On SI. He can be reached at zainbando99@gmail.com or follow him on X @zainbando99

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