LAS VEGAS \u2014\u00a0Illinois was supposed to be a sleeper, perhaps this year\u2019s version of Indiana. But with so much hype coming out of Champaign, and the preseason poll landing Illinois in fourth place, the Illini won\u2019t be sneaking up on anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think (Illinois coach) Bret\u2019s (Bielema) built something the way that he wanted to build it,\u201d Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said at Big Ten football media days. \u201cAnd he\u2019s got guys that fit his program, his culture, and now they have an experienced team, which when you\u2019re an experienced team, you\u2019re always dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defensive back Xavier Scott pointed out the Illini\u2019s schedule, having to open the season with seven straight games before a bye, but he and his teammates are looking forward to the challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just excited to see what we got, we\u2019re just going to continue to do what we do and continue to grind to success,\u201d Scott said. \u201cWe want to make this an every-year type of thing where we\u2019re winning games, multiple games, and we\u2019re making more bowl games \u2026 and even playoff runs. We\u2019re just trying to make that the culture of Illinois.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hoosiers ready to prove they\u2019re no one-hit wonder<\/p>\n
After a surprising 10-0 start, a program-record 11 wins and a trip to the College Football Playoff, some believe Indiana is destined to take a step backward in 2025.<\/p>\n
Coach Curt Cignetti and his team, however, didn\u2019t get the memo.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not looking to sustain it, we\u2019re looking to improve it,\u201d Cignetti said Tuesday.\u00a0\u201cAnd the way you do that is by having the right people on the bus, upstairs in the coaches\u2019 offices, downstairs in the locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n
And with that, he said, is a standard he set long ago at James Madison, one that includes a crystal clear blueprint with expectations of never accepting anything less than what\u2019s been previously accomplished.<\/p>\n
\u201cConsistency day in, day out,\u201d Cignetti added. \u201cConsistency is huge so that we can play fast, physical, relentless, smart, disciplined, poised, not affected by success, not affected by failure, and never ever satisfied until the game is over.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, the Hoosiers\u2019 road back to the playoffs is no easy chore, as their conference slate includes trips to Oregon and Penn State \u2014 two College Football Playoff teams they didn\u2019t face last year.<\/p>\n
The Big Ten media poll projected a sixth-place finish for the Hoosiers, indicating they may have been a one-hit wonder.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that\u2019s the buzzword \u2014 fluke \u2014 but I think at the end of the day, we\u2019ve always overcome whatever expectations people have of us,\u201d said returning all-Big Ten defensive end Mikail Kamara, who followed Cignetti from James Madison. \u201cSo, I feel the way that Cig runs the ship and has a standard, I feel like everyone\u2019s kind of bought into it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only goal that we have is to win a championship. I think last year was fun; we wanted to win games, and it was completely all new to us. But now, it\u2019s like, we\u2019ve cemented ourselves in the Big Ten and we\u2019re going to go take it over and win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why Vegas?<\/p>\n
Normally, the Big Ten holds its media days inside Indianapolis\u2019 Lucas Oil Stadium, and the three-day event certainly could have carried momentum over from the WNBA\u2019s All-Star weekend.<\/p>\n
But the venue was booked for the week. So, rather than return to another old home, Chicago, the 18-team conference chose Las Vegas, a city where it does not have an actual team but that is closer to some of its newer programs \u2014 USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think, obviously, we are a conference that goes coast to coast, so having some presence closer to our West Coast members is not a bad thing,\u201d commissioner Tony Petitti said. \u201cIt started with logistics, to be really candid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Look good, feel good, play good<\/p>\n
Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola made the rounds, donning a customized suit that reeked of success while embracing a Las Vegas vibe.<\/p>\n
Wearing a crisp black suit with red piping and playing cards stitched on the inside to match his red-bottom Christian Louboutin shoes, the second-year signal caller said the Cornhuskers, picked to finish eighth by media members, are loaded with confidence heading into camp.<\/p>\n
Nebraska started 5-1 last year, before finishing 2-5. One fun fact: Huskers coach Matt Rhule\u2019s teams at Baylor and Temple each improved by four wins from his second to third seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt all stems from the work that\u2019s been put in, all the preparation that guys have had,\u201d Raiola said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be an exciting season, guys are ready to go, and there\u2019s no stopping us getting to our goals. The consistency of believing in the program, believing in what we believe, and not losing sight of that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think once guys understand that when something works, that you just keep sticking to it and you don\u2019t fade from it, you get a strong (result) at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Originally Published: July 22, 2025 at 8:40 PM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2014\u00a0Illinois was supposed to be a sleeper, perhaps this year\u2019s version of Indiana. But with so…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":85322,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1359,1428,1318,3915,9443,57672,1317,1315,1316,11995,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-85321","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-big-ten-football","9":"tag-college-football","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-illinois-fighting-illini","12":"tag-indiana-hoosiers","13":"tag-media-days","14":"tag-ncaa","15":"tag-ncaa-football","16":"tag-ncaafootball","17":"tag-nebraska-cornhuskers","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114901325941327513","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}