Illinois Fighting Illini 2018 Football Preview

It’s become somewhat commonplace to relegate Illinois to the cellar of the Big Ten’s west division, especially now that Purdue seems to be showing signs of life. That might be a touch premature, though certainly understandable based on how Lovie Smith’s NFL career ended up. Certainly, Illinois doesn’t show many signs of progress, if only because of the Illini’s ten-game losing streak. But you also have to acknowledge that Smith decided to just start fresh with his program last season. Illinois returns 16 starters from 2017: Nine sophomores, four juniors and just three seniors. Yes, NINE freshmen were starting last season for the Illini. So yeah, Illinois football wasn’t very good last season because they shouldn’t have been any good. But that raises the question whether Lovie Smith’s program will ever be good.

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