The 88 Illini: #24-#21

I started writing the intro for the preview yesterday. And I feel like it's going to be the most uninformed preview of all time. I'll still find stuff to write about – I'll always find stuff to write about – but there's just so much we do not know. I feel like we knew more about the team leading into Bielema's first season than we know leading up to his sixth season.

I don't mean that in a bad way. We know what this staff is capable of. Both the 2021 and 2023 seasons proved that if things aren't looking great in September, they'll often look much better by November. The Bielema team that played the worst ball in November might have been... the 2022 ReliaQuest Bowl team? That was partly due to injuries, though, so it's not really fair to frame that team like that.

I guess I'm saying that every preview I've written the last dozen years has been filled with "if all of these things go right..." and then last year was "how much can we dream?" and now this year is going to be "well, even if it's rough in September, it will be rolling by November." Not much of a "preview", but whatever.

Again, I'm not complaining. This is a great thing. I'm just saying that the combination of 'only eight returning starters with a brand new defense' and 'won 19 games the previous two seasons' puts my preview-writing brain in a completely different space. After a dozen 25,000-word previews (last year was 37,000 words), I know how to sit down and crank through "here's the things that need to go right if we want hope for the future." I don't know how to crank through "I don't know much about this transfer-heavy roster but I do know that everything will work out by November." May not go well, but I'm gonna give it my best shot.

We've essentially reached the starting lineup now. With three weeks left before the first game, here's #24 through #21 on my list: