Illinois is headed back into the Big Noon Kickoff spotlight.
The Big Ten announced Monday that the Illini’s Sept. 26 trip to Ohio State will kick at 11 a.m. CT on FOX, giving Illinois its first game at Ohio Stadium in nine years a national stage. It’s the third time in the last two years Illinois has landed in that FOX window, following last season’s back-to-back home appearances against USC and Ohio State.
The timing comes with the usual bright lights and the usual difficulty. Illinois has dropped 10 straight to Ohio State, and its last win in the series came in 2007, when the No.
1 Buckeyes were stunned 28-21 in Columbus. That Illinois team ran for 260 yards, got 12 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss from J Leman, and intercepted Todd Beckman three times - by Dere Hicks, Miami Thomas and Antonio Steele.
There’s also a little historical twist here: the last five Illinois wins over Ohio State have all come in Columbus, with the previous victories coming in 2001, 1999, 1994 and 1991. The teams meet for the Illibuck trophy, a rivalry that dates to 1925 and now favors Ohio State 66-24-2.
The trophy started as a live turtle; when that turtle died in the spring of 1927, it was replaced by the wooden version used today. It remains the Big Ten’s second-oldest rivalry trophy behind The Little Brown Jug.
Before that marquee trip, Illinois is dealing with another blow up front.
Head coach Bret Bielema said senior offensive lineman TJ McMillen is out for the season with a foot fracture. McMillen had just made his second career start against Duke and graded out at 72.1 from Pro Football Focus, the best mark among Illinois offensive linemen in that game. He still has eligibility through the 2027 season.
Bielema said: "He was getting his first opportunity this year off to [Brandon] Henderson's injury and thought he really maximized the moment, played extremely well. Super excited about him and his future.
Unfortunately, that's going to be done for him this year. So obviously he's going to lay into the offensive line at a position that's already been a little bit banged up. ...
Just extremely disappointed for the kid. He's worked really hard to get where he is,"
The injury leaves Illinois even thinner at guard. Maika Matelau and Brandon Henderson both missed the Duke game, which pushed McMillen and junior Brandon Hansen into their second career starts.
Bielema said Matelau could be back in the next few weeks, while Henderson is expected to return this season, just later than Matelau. McMillen had also been the backup center behind Jake Renfro, who has dealt with a long list of injury problems in his career.
On the recruiting front, Illinois men’s basketball landed inside the top five for another major target.
Five-star Class of 2027 forward AJ Williams included Illinois in his top 10, according to 247Sports’ Dushawn London. The 6-foot-7, 220-pound junior has reclassified from the Class of 2028, where he had been ranked No. 1, and is now slotted No. 5 overall in 2027 by 247Sports. His list also includes BYU, Georgia, Mississippi State, Duke, Auburn, Kentucky, North Carolina, Arkansas and Georgia Tech.
London reported that Williams has no timetable for a decision and is working to line up official visits.
Illinois already has two four-star in-state commitments in the Class of 2027 in sharpshooter Mason Martin and versatile wing Quinton Kitt, and the program is clearly swinging higher now. After producing four first-round picks over the last three years and reaching a Final Four last spring, Illinois is drawing the kind of reciprocal interest that comes with that kind of run.
And there’s more high-end company on the way. Five-star wing Moussa Kamissoko and Bentley Lusakueno are set to visit Illinois this week, while five-star prospects Darius Wabbington and Brady Pettigrew are scheduled to visit in October.
On the women’s basketball side, Shauna Green’s staff is set to get paid for the turnaround it has helped build.
The Illinois Board of Trustees will vote Thursday on Green’s new six-year contract, which could extend to 10 years, and on multi-year extensions for three assistants. Calamity McEntire is lined up for a new three-year deal starting at $340,000, up from $269,000 last season, with annual raises of $10,000.
Britney Anderson is set for a new three-year deal beginning at $250,000, up from $203,000, also with $10,000 yearly raises. DeAntoine "Cat" Beasley is in line for a new two-year deal starting at $215,000, up from $203,000, with a $10,000 bump in the second year.
The move reflects how much Josh Whitman has invested in Green’s staff, which has helped revive a program that had not reached the NCAA Tournament in 20 years before her arrival. Illinois has made three NCAA Tournament appearances and won a WBIT Championship in four seasons, and it is expected to enter this season in the preseason top 25.
McEntire’s raise stands out in particular because it strengthens her standing as a head coaching candidate, giving her the flexibility to wait for the right opportunity rather than jumping at the first Division I opening. For Green, it keeps her associate head coach, top recruiter and trusted right hand in place.
In Other News...
Illinois Fans Already Have A Real Concern With Bobby Hauck
Illinois left Duke with a 31-27 loss, and the most alarming part for fans was how easily the Blue Devils were able to lean on Nate Sheppard. The running back piled up 167 rushing yards, added 41 more through the air and found the end zone three times, exposing the same kind of problems that have already followed Illinois early in the season. Under coordinator Bobby Hauck, the 3-3-5 has been under scrutiny because the tackling and run defense have not held up the way the Illini need them to.
That matters even more with Big Ten play ahead, where opponents are rarely going to miss chances to hammer a defense that has shown cracks against the run. Illinois can live with some growing pains in a new scheme, but the concern now is less about adjusting and more about whether the problems are structural enough to follow the team into conference play. The Duke game did not answer that question in a comforting way, and it left plenty of reason to keep a close eye on what Haucks defense looks like next. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois Already Has Two Problems It Must Fix Fast
Illinois had hoped to ride a 3-0 start into its next Big Ten test, but the trip through non-conference play hit a snag against Duke. The loss put an early dent in the kind of clean opening the Illini wanted, and it also exposed two areas that showed up too clearly on film: tackling that let too many plays extend and an offense that did not sustain its pace after halftime.
Bret Bielema said the staff has to sort out why those issues surfaced before the next game against Southern Illinois. For Illinois, the challenge is less about dwelling on one setback than making sure it does not linger, especially with Ohio State looming after this stretch and little margin for error if the Illini want to keep their early-season goals intact. [Read more 🡒]
Illini Fans Got A Revealing Week 1 NFL Reality Check
Week 1 of the NFL season gave Illinois fans a fresh look at just how widely their football program has spread across the league. Alumni showed up in every corner of the standings, with players from the Jets, Patriots, Bengals and a long list of other teams logging snaps, posting early numbers or settling into practice-squad roles as the season got underway. For a program that likes to sell itself on producing pro-ready talent, the opening weekend offered a useful snapshot of where former Illini stand once the games start counting.
The list also came with the usual early-season mix of encouraging signs and frustrating pauses. Some former Illinois players were active and involved right away, while others were sidelined by injury or listed inactive as coaches sorted out depth charts and game plans. Add in the practice-squad shuffling, and it was a reminder that an NFL roster spot can look very different from one player to the next, even when they all come from the same college pipeline. [Read more 🡒]