Improvement as a measure of success for Illini

By Doug Halberstadt
Sports Columnist

Following a disappointing 2009 season (3-9 overall and 2-6 in the Big Ten Conference) the Fighting Illini are looking to get back to a certain level of respectability within the conference this season. I don’t think even the most loyal Illinois fan would expect them to compete for a conference title this season.

Last year’s Big Ten Conference champion, Ohio State (11-2 overall and 7-1 in the Big 10) is the pre-season favorite to repeat and is ranked second in the nation in both the AP and USA Today polls, trailing only Alabama. Two other Big Ten schools, Iowa and Wisconsin, are also ranked in the top 15 in both pre-season polls. Fortunately for Illinois fans, neither Iowa nor Wisconsin is on the 2010 schedule for the Illini.

Illini fans will have to settle for improvement as a measure of success this year. The 2010 season kicks off this Saturday (Sept. 4) with the State Farm Arch Rivalry game against the Missouri Tigers in St. Louis, Mo.

The Illini then have three home games in a row. The first two games in Champaign are against non-conference opponents. They open up at Memorial Stadium Sept. 11 against Southern Illinois and then, the following week (Saturday, Sept. 18), the Northern Illinois Huskies will come calling.

The good news for the Illini is they have a home game to open up the Big Ten Conference schedule. The bad news is, it is against defending Big Ten champion and recent perennial powerhouse the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The other conference home games include homecoming Saturday, Oct. 23, against Indiana; an Oct. 30 match-up with the Purdue Boilermakers; and then they close out the 2010 home schedule with Minnesota Nov. 13.

One of the more interesting road games the Illini will be involved in this season is their contest against the Northwestern Wildcats. That game is slated to be played at Wrigley Field in Chicago Nov. 20.

Other road contests include conference games against Penn State in Happy Valley Oct. 9. The Illini travel to Michigan twice this season. The first trip is to East Lansing Oct. 16 to face the Michigan State Spartans. They’ll make their return trip to Michigan to face the Wolverines in Ann Arbor Nov. 6.

The regular season schedule will conclude Dec. 3 with a non-conference road game out in California against the Fresno State Bulldogs.

My best prediction for the Illini this season is 6-6. With four of those wins coming in the Big Ten. I think their best chances are against Indiana, Purdue, Minnesota and Northwestern. They should also fair well against non-conference opponents Northern and Southern Illinois. The rest of the games, we’ll just have to watch to see how improved they actually are.

Doug Halberstadt can be reached via e-mail at Dougster61@aol.com.

From the Sept. 1-7, 2010 issue