Considering how popular football is in Illinois, why does the Fighting Illini have such an unsuccessful team?

[Mathguy]

1. It's hard to build an established bigtime program.

2. ESPECIALLY in college football, let's be honest, it's a dirty dirty sport. Players have been repeatedly caught getting payoffs and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Certain schools have more of a reputation for that and it's often more common in some parts of the country than others as we all know well.

Perhaps that will change now that there are endorsement deals.

P.S Just to use Nebraska as an example, they have some filthy rich backers but they're straight arrows moreso than let's say you get down into SEC land.

[spencgr]

Why are you under the impression that "popularity" somehow equals "success"? Totally un-related. "Success" comes from great coaching and talented players, and both of those things follow big money. It has nothing to do with how popular a sport is in that area.

[KO Stradivarius]

You would think that Illinois should at least be able to have similar football success to Iowa and Wisconsin, but they really haven't. They have had some success in basketball, however.

[Doughboy1918]

Originally Posted by spencgr

"Success" comes from great coaching and talented players, and both of those things follow big money. It has nothing to do with how popular a sport is in that area.

But where would the great coaching, talented players and big money come from if there wasn't such a regional passion for a sport in the first place? Look at Massillon, Ohio for example.

[GWoodle]

Originally Posted by Doughboy1918

But where would the great coaching, talented players and big money come from if there wasn't such a regional passion for a sport in the first place? Look at Massillon, Ohio for example.

What looks good on a regional high school level may not translate to the college/university level. You have the law of diminishing returns. Same jump applies when going to the pro's. If someone makes it, better enjoy while it lasts.

Would take good recruiting to have all the best players in IL go to U of I. But some go to Northwestern, some go to other schools or out of state. Now they have to compete with other schools.

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by Doughboy1918

Football of course is a huge sensation in the states of the Great Lakes area, many of whose largest public universities are members of the Big Ten (the most famous college sports conference is the country) which hosts many of the greatest and winningest NCAA football teams from the Buckeyes, to the Wolverines, to Notre Dame, to the Nittany Lions, and the Huskers. However, I just wondered, why is the Fighting Illini so unsuccessful in terms of its football team? It ranks the lowest (99th) of the top 100 teams listed on the Wikipedia page of NCAA football teams by wins. Is this because much of the population of Illinois lives in Chicagoland whereby Notre Dame is the prefered college due to closer proximity? Wondered if anyone knows a thing or two as to why this is the case, thanks.

I don't think youth football is as popular as you think it is in Illinois, a state that is highly urbanized. Additionally, the popularity of a sport can often be misleading. Soccer is by far the most popular youth sport in the United States, but the United States produces very few soccer stars and college soccer teams are typically not high profile.

[Kmanshouse]

Usually an exceptional coach is what builds a program. And then that breeds attracting top talent, successor coaches, etc. We see this time and time again. Sometimes a program can't hang on, others are blue bloods forever. The rest haven't really ever found their coaching legend.

Example, Arizona basketball. Program was nothing until Lute Olson came. The school has had a stellar program ever since, even since he left (with a couple bad years). Duke is still good despite Coach K leaving.

Also, there are a few schools that just will always be synonymous with football, like Ohio State, Oregon, Alabama.

An example of a school that couldn't hang on. Nebraska. A once powerful team, due to their coach, just didn't find the magic again afterwards.

[karlsch]

Now there is a fire at the stadium: https://www.news-gazette.com/news/il...3e1b29c63.html

Next game is Friday night. NCAA football teams never used to play on Friday nights - because that's the night for high school football. However, with TV $$$$ now involved, the rules change.