The 88 Illini #40-#37

I noted this on Twitter just now but I wanted to write something about it as well. We'll get to the next four players on the list here in a moment but first I wanted to write something about the block I logo. If you're not interested in that, just skip down to the next four players on the list.

I was at the "jersey patch" announcement at the Smith Center this morning. If you haven't heard, in 2026, jersey patch sponsors have been approved for college athletics. I'll have a whole article on that here in a bit but first... some thoughts after staring at this podium for an hour:

I'm really glad we "captured" the block I with our rebrand 12 years ago. We had block I logos before, of course, including the one on all of the clothing in the 2000's with an I inside a circle. But the 2014 rebrand with Nike landed on this Block I:

And I'm so glad because the I had just been sitting out there waiting to be claimed. Michigan, obviously, has claimed the Block M:

And that claim is so strong that every time a school like Missouri tries to say "we can use the Block M as well" and push "it's a different shade of yellow, see" flags like this...

...everyone asks that person "why do you have a Michigan flag?" This is what I mean by "capturing" a block letter.

And since Iowa goes with this:

And Indiana wants to capture "IU" and not just the "I":

Then it allows us to capture the block I. (Sorry, Idaho, I know you have a block I logo, but we both know that the state is too small population wise and the move from FBS football to FCS football meant that you attempt a block I claim.)

Iowa has recently been pushing block I hats like this one...

...and I love love love that everyone thinks it's an Illinois hat. Yeah, sure, it's yellow, but it's close enough to orange that it's hard to tell at Home Depot. They pushed for the Hawkeye logo, it's what stuck for them, we grabbed the block I, and now all of their attempts at block I logos look very Illinois-like. The few block I Iowa hats I saw in Houston at the Elite Eight? You could tell that the Iowa fans immediately regretted their hat choice.

Anyway, I love that we finally captured it. Four states the begin with an I (and some of them having multiple schools like Iowa State and Iowa) and we have full ownership over the block I. If you see a black and white block-I helmet in 2026...

...you think "Illinois" and nothing else. I love it.

On to the next four names: