You may should forgive Illinois soccer followers for wincing when the phrases “playoff contender” or “this 12 months’s Indiana” are tossed about as liberally as they’ve been this offseason. Not as a result of the comparability to Indiana is misguided — it’s, because the Hoosiers have been coming off a 3-9 file final season with a first-year coach whereas Illinois received 10 video games in 2024 — however as a result of Illinois and expectations have gone collectively like oil and vinegar.

You may hear lots about how Illinois returns almost each key starter from final 12 months’s workforce. You may additionally hear about third-year beginning quarterback Luke Altmyer, who hasn’t posted gaudy numbers the final two seasons however has routinely discovered methods to make huge performs when his workforce wants him most.

What you do not hear a lot about is that this: the final time Illinois each began and ended a season ranked within the AP High 25 was 1990.

Again in 1990, Illinois was coming off a 10-2 season below John Mackovic that ended with a win over Virginia within the Citrus Bowl. That workforce was led by Jeff George, and though he left to develop into the No. 1 choose within the 1990 NFL Draft, the Illini started 1990 ranked at No. 11. They barely clung on, ending the season 8-4 and ranked No. 25.

Whereas they’d be ranked for a couple of weeks in 1991, Illinois would not enter the AP Ballot once more till 1994 when it started the season at No. 21. The Illini would end 7-5 and solely spend three weeks within the ballot that 12 months. And it has been a typical theme for them since.

Illinois started the 1994, 2000, and 2008 seasons ranked and completed these three seasons with a mixed file of 17-18. An incapacity to maintain success has dogged this system because the late Fifties, which is exactly what Bret Bielema was introduced in to repair forward of the 2021 season.

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Tom Fornelli

A brand new period

Given the outcomes of his first 4 years in Champaign, Bielema appears to be on observe to take action. His 28 wins by way of 4 seasons are already the ninth-most in class historical past. His win proportion of .560 ranks fifth amongst Illinois coaches who coached at the very least 40 video games, and in the event you bump that quantity as much as 50 video games, he is second all-time behind Robert Zuppke, the person Illinois’ taking part in discipline is known as after. 

That is why Illinois was glad at hand Bielema a profitable contract extension this offseason. He is introduced wins and pleasure to a program that has lengthy wanted it.

However Bielema himself has fallen sufferer to Illinois’ heated rivalry with expectations. The Illini climbed as excessive as No. 14 within the AP Ballot in the course of the 2022 season and No. 16 within the Faculty Soccer Playoff rankings after a 7-1 begin to the 2022 season. They’d lose 4 of their subsequent 5 — together with a decent loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor — to complete the 12 months unranked at 8-5. Whereas Illinois would not begin 2023 within the polls, expectations have been excessive for a workforce that had received eight video games, and whereas there weren’t playoff hopes, there have been official hopes Illinois would get again to a bowl sport. It’d mark the primary time Illinois went bowling in consecutive seasons since 2010-11.

As an alternative, they went 5-7 as they transitioned to a first-year starter in Altmyer, and first-year defensive coordinator Aaron Henry’s unit struggled to switch some key defections. They rebounded fairly properly in 2024 and at the moment are staring down the barrel of these expectations once more.

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Will Backus

Defining success 

So, what does success appear to be for the Illini in 2025? The AP Preseason High 25 will not be launched till August, however the Illini ought to be ranked within the high 15 primarily based on the place post-spring rankings from varied media retailers. A rating that top suggests Illinois ought to stay within the Huge Ten title race many of the season and shall be a severe contender for an at-large berth within the playoff.

Whereas Bret Bielema would by no means say so publicly — he has not been shy with regards to speaking a couple of playoff run — given this system’s historical past, even when the Illini do not find yourself in a playoff sport, ending the season within the high 25 could be a significant step ahead. It might be the primary time this system had finished so in 35 years. Overlook concerning the gamers; a number of the coaches on Illinois’ workers weren’t alive but. Bielema was nonetheless taking part in for the Iowa Hawkeyes below Hayden Fry. That is an accomplishment price celebrating — even when it isn’t the ultimate aim

It might be proof of idea that you could construct a sustained winner at Illinois. That is finally why Bielema was employed. When he was taking part in for Iowa, Bielema was an Illinois native taking part in for a program that had begun to seek out sustained success below Fry. Bielema then went on to educate at Wisconsin below Barry Alvarez, one other program that discovered sustained success. When he took over as head coach, Bielema sustained that success, successful three Huge Ten titles.

His historical past of successful at applications with out a lot historical past and getting these groups rotated is why he was so interesting to Illinois within the first place. So, whereas Illinois and outsiders can throw out the phrase “playoff” with reckless abandon, it should not be playoff or bust in Champaign.

The true aim ought to be to maintain successful and show this workforce was greater than a one-hit surprise. Some other honors that include these victories shall be icing on the cake.