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The 88 Illini

The 88 Illini: #72-#69

Holly Birch-Smith - IlliniBoard

I mean, just look at that picture. It's from the Ohio State game last October. Some may look at it and say "so what? The seats near the 50 are full even when there are only 32,000 fans in the stands." But that's not the point. It's the density. We haven't seen density like that since the 1980's.

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The 88 Illini: #76-#73

The 88 Illini: #76-#73

I can write whatever I want in these intros and I'm choosing to write about Keaton Wagler being drafted 5th overall last night. Yes, this is a football post, and I'll eventually get the next four players on the list. But first, let's talk

The 88 Illini: #80-#77

The 88 Illini: #80-#77

For whatever reason, I have a very strong "now it begins" feeling this morning. Perhaps it was all of the photos on social media of the first basketball practice yesterday. Perhaps it's the knowledge that the football players (including the summer enrollees) are on campus and

The 88 Illini: #84-#81

The 88 Illini: #84-#81

I'm just a boy, standing in front of a reader, asking them to understand just how hard it has been to assemble this list in 2026. I could start every one of these posts with some form of "this is impossible" but I still wouldn'