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By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst & Co-Host, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

November 24, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

The Illini open their Thanksgiving Feast Week schedule with a bit of a test when they take on UT Rio Grande at the State Farm Center before they head to New York to take on the UConn Huskies at Madison Square Garden. It is sometimes easy to look ahead and this would be a game they definitely do not want to overlook.

Here’s a look at the matchup.

Setting the Stage
#8 Illinois (5-1) vs. UT Rio Grande Valley (2-3)
Monday, Nov. 24, 2025 // 7 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. // State Farm Center
TV: BTN – Jason Ross Jr. (Play-by-Play) & Bruce Weber (Analyst)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play) & Doug Altenberger

Notable
*No. 8 Illinois (5-1) continues its stretch of four games in 10 days across three different cities, hosting UT Rio Grande Valley on Monday night at State Farm Center (7 p.m. CT/BTN). This is Illinois’ lone one-day prep of the regular season, following Saturday’s 98-58 win over Long Island.

*Monday marks Illinois’ sixth home date among its first seven games to start the season. The Illini will not play at State Farm Center for nearly three weeks following the UTRGV game, returning Dec. 13 vs. Nebraska. Illinois has won all five of its home games thus far by outscoring opponents by an average of 32.8 points. The Illini are shooting 52% at State Farm Center, including nearly 36% from 3-point range Illinois carries a seven-game home winning streak into Monday’s game vs. UTRGV. Under head coach Brad Underwood, the Illini have won 34 consecutive nonconference home games against unranked opponents.

*After leading the Big Ten in scoring last season (83.6 ppg), Illinois is currently averaging 95.8 points. If able to maintain this early pace, it would surpass the program’s all-time scoring average of 92.2 ppg set in 1964-65.

*The Illini have opened with six straight games of 80+ points for the first time since the 1988-89 Flyin’ Illini did so in each of its first 12 contests.

*The Fighting Illini offense features six players – Kylan Boswell (17.8 ppg), Andrej Stojakovic (17.4), Keaton Wagler (16.2), David Mirkovic (16.0), Tomislav Ivisic (11.0), and Ben Humrichous (10.0) – averaging double-figures scoring, tied for the second-most in the nation.

If you want to place blame to why Saturday night’s disaster in Madison happened, look no further than the man who has his hands in every single aspect of the program - Bret Bielema.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

MADISON, Wis. — The cold, harsh reality of what transpired on Saturday night inside Camp Randall Stadium is the person most responsible can’t and logically shouldn’t be replaced.

Bret Arnold Bielema is the one who has to wear every bit of this three-score loss to a then-three win Wisconsin football team because everything that happened is something the head football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign not only allowed to happen but was the one who encouraged and championed it to happen.

You want to play the blame game after this 27-10 debacle? Lord knows the IlliniGuys.com football message boards are saying “hell yes” to that request. Well, you better start with the guy who carries an $8.2 million salary and has a current buyout of his contract that totals $49,491,667 - the guy with that big corner office inside the Smith Family Football Complex next to Gies Memorial Stadium. Yeah, that guy who Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman is financially tied to and is incapable of (and, of course, has no desire toward) replacing anytime soon.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

November 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Kedric Prince/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Illinois football program remains firmly in the chase for one of the nation’s top young tight ends. A few days ago, Jack Brown of Francis Howell Central in St. Charles, Missouri, Class of 2027, announced that he has narrowed his recruitment to six schools.

The 6-foot-5, 200-pound prospect is considered one of the best at his position. According to Rivals and On3, Brown is the No. 7 tight end in the country for his class, the No. 107 overall recruit, and Missouri’s top-ranked player.

Run game, game management and special teams all get failing marks in a 17-point loss to a 4-win Wisconsin squad in Madison.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

MADISON, Wis. — Bret Bielema’s ‘Football 101’ that he immediately implemented after being named the 26th head football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was failed miserably in every facet on Saturday night in his old stomping grounds of Camp Randall Stadium.

At this point in Bielema’s Illini tenure, we know what his three principles are: 1) Run the ball; 2) Stop the run and 3) Cover kicks (play solid special teams).

In a perplexing 27-10 loss at Wisconsin Saturday night, Illinois did none of those three things Bielema holds so dear to his winning football philosophy. Illinois had just 89 sack-adjusted (meaning without yards subtracted to Luke Altmyer’s total on Wisconsin’s five sacks) yards on the ground. Despite those five sacks, Altmyer still led Illinois (7-4, 4-4 in Big Ten Conference) in rushing with 20 yards.

“We certainly didn’t run the ball and I think that’s the most frustrating thing about today is we never got into a rhythm with the run game at all,” Bielema said dejectedly in the post-game media conference.

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst & Co-Host, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

November 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

The Illini did exactly what they needed to do on Saturday afternoon when they dismantled the Long Island Sharks 98 to 58. Andrej Stojakovic led the way with 20 points, 18 of those coming after intermission. Freshman Keaton Wagler bounced back from a rough outing against Alabama with 19 points in this one as he continues to be one of the best unheralded freshmen in the country. David Mirkovic added 12 and Kylan Boswell tallied 11 as the Illinois placed four in double figures. Perhaps more importantly starting center Tomislav Ivisic is beginning to round into form playing 20 minutes and scoring nine points in his return to action.

Here’s what we saw.

These 3 Things

Putting the Pieces Together -

By IlliniGuys Staff November 23, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema concluded following the fourth loss of the 2025 regular season that he must “do a better job of building a roster around (his coaching staff)”.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

MADISON, Wis. — Following what might be considered the worst effort and execution considering the opponent of the 61-game Bret Bielema tenure at Illinois, the fifth-year head coach promised a philosophy change in how he constructs the 2026 roster.

After the 27-10 loss at a Wisconsin team that arrived Saturday night with a 3-7 overall record, Bielema said “there's obviously going to be offseason adjustments and corrections”.

With the high school and junior college early signing period being just 10 days away and the 15-day transfer portal windows opening on Jan. 3 - one day after College Football Playoff quarterfinals conclude, Bielema knows his plan to reshape an Illini roster that has fell short of many preseason expectations inside and outside the Smith Family Football Complex is rapidly approaching.

(From Illinois Sports Information Office)   Illinois at Florida […]

By IlliniGuys Staff November 22, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]

By IlliniGuys Staff November 22, 2205 (Cover photo courtesy […]

Pat Farrell, who spurned Wisconsin’s efforts to control his hometown area of Chicago, is coming off his most productive weekend in an Illini jersey.

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

No. 21 ILLINOIS at WISCONSIN

Records: Illinois 7-3, 4-3 in Big Ten; Wisconsin 3-7, 1-6 in Big Ten

Date/Time/Place: Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025: 6:30 p.m. CST, Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wisconsin

Surface: FieldTurf

Capacity: 76,057

Line: Illinois by 9.5

Series notes: Wisconsin leads the all-time series 45-38-7 and in Madison, Wisconsin leads, 24-17-4. Wisconsin has won 12 of its last 14 meetings with the Fighting Illini, dating to 2008. The last time Illinois visited Camp Randall Stadium, the Illini snapped an eight-game Wisconsin winning streak at Camp Randall in the series – that streak dated back to 2002. In the teams’ last meeting, the Badgers overcame a 14-point 4th-quarter Illinois lead to score a 25-21 win in Champaign (Oct. 21, 2023). QB Braedyn Locke tossed a game-winning touchdown to offensive lineman Nolan Rucci with less than a minute remaining after he changed jersey numbers after warmups prompting a new Big Ten Conference rule to implemented.

TV: Big Ten Network; Rhett Lewis (play-by-play); Anthony Herron (color analyst) and Dannie Rogers (sideline reporter)

Radio (Illinois): Brian Barnhart (play-by-play), Carey Davis (analyst), Michael Martin (sideline), and Steve Kelly (pre/half/post). The broadcast can be heard live on TuneIn online radio, SiriusXM 372, the SiriusXM App, and at FightingIllini.com/live.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A few months after he took the Wisconsin job in Jan. 2023, Luke Fickell and his staff attempted to do a recruiting barnstorming tour of much-needed areas they felt they needed to dominate.

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst & Co-Host, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

November 22, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

The Illini are back in the friendly confines for a tune up against Long Island on Saturday after their tough loss to Alabama in Chicago. The Illini are a big favorite in this one against the Sharks and head coach Rod Strickland, so this is more a ‘get right’ game.

Setting the Stage
#8 Illinois (4-1) vs. Long Island (3-2)
Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025 // 1 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. // State Farm Center
Stream: B1G+ – Andrew Burkey (Play-by-Play), Justin St. Louis (Analyst), & Mazie Gierat Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Scott Beatty (Play-By-Play), Doug Altenberger

Notable
*Saturday’s contest is also the second game of stretch of five games in 17 days across four cities that includes a trio of marquee nonconference matchups vs. Top 25 opponents. Following the Illini’s game vs. #11 Alabama Wednesday, which drew 17,775 fans to the United Center in Chicago, the team hosts LIU and UT Rio Grande Valley at home before facing #3 UConn at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 28 and concluding the gauntlet on Dec. 6 vs. #20 Tennessee at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

*Illinois carries a six-game home winning streak into Saturday’s game vs. LIU. Under head coach Brad Underwood, the Illini have won 33 consecutive nonconference home games against unranked opponents.

*Through five games, Illinois leads the Big Ten in rebound margin (+17.8 rpg) and total rebounds per game (47.0), ranking fourth and 10th, respectively, in the NCAA. Illinois also ranks second in the conference in scoring offense (95.4 ppg), 3-point attempts per game (31.8), 3-point percentage defense (.286).

November 22, 2025 The Illini face a Wisconsin Badger […]

Through two wins in November, Illinois is third in the Big Ten Conference this month in rushing offense at 217.5 yards per game.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 21, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It’s become almost an annual trend that as the weather turns colder and the calendar flips to November, Illinois will suddenly find success in the run game.

In a 2024 season where Illinois finished just ninth in a 18-team Big Ten Conference and 88th in the 136-team Football Bowl Subdivision in rushing offense, the Illini finished fifth in the league in its ground attack during its four games in November.

Illinois (7-3, 4-3 in Big Ten Conference) has just completed back-to-back games with at least 200 rushing yards, for only the second time in the 60-game tenure of Bret Bielema running the operation in Champaign-Urbana.

The solution, according to the Illini’s fifth-year head coach is about as simple as it gets.

“Without a doubt, it’s the play of the offensive line,” Bielema said on Monday. “I don’t mean to get overly simplistic with everybody here but it’s not a coincidence that when that group plays well, we play well as a whole team.”

By Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

November 21, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's Hudl page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois continues to identify its future at the most important position on the field, and one early name near the top of the board is Hunter Hochbaum, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound dual-threat quarterback from Mater Dei Catholic High School in Breese, Illinois. A member of the class of 2028, Hochbaum has already drawn interest from several college programs and has begun making visits as his recruitment gains momentum.

Hochbaum recently visited Illinois for the Maryland game and said the experience made a strong impression on him. “They treated me great. Coach Pat Ryan is a great guy to get in contact with. I felt welcomed when I arrived, and the environment was awesome. I’ve grown up watching Big Ten football, and Illinois is a great representation of the hype the Big Ten conference has,” he said.