The Illinois Fighting Illini are quickly turning heads in the Big Ten. CBS Sports analyst Brian Jones went as far as to say Illinois might already be the third-best team in the conference , behind only Ohio State and Oregon, and even ahead of Penn State. His reasoning? Pure dominance in the trenches and a clear identity under head coach Bret Bielema.
Illinois showed that formula again last Saturday, forcing five turnovers in a 45-19 win over Duke while not giving the ball away once. The team is now 2-0, scoring nearly 100 points in their first two games and building momentum toward a potential Cinderella run.
Another major announcement accompanied that growing momentum. According to Brett McMurphy of On3, posted on X, formerly Twitter, Illinois has officially renamed its football stad