Citrus Bowl against Alabama would be huge for Illini Football Brand

About a thousand Illinois Fighting Illini football fans showed their commitment to the program by braving the icy elements for a few hours after Saturday’s game at Wrigley Field. One of them brought a “WE WANT BAMA” sign to the 38-28 victory over Northwestern at Friendly Confines.

It was a remarkable expression of wish that will apparently soon come true.

The Citrus Bowl, which will be played on New Year’s Eve this year rather than its rightful place on New Year’s Day due to the College Football Playoff, will most likely pit the Illini against the Alabama Crimson Tide. We certainly won’t find out until Sunday, but you can see what’s currently going on with the college football bowl projections by looking at the image in this post.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Illini to compete on a big stage against the sport’s bluest bluebloods. Although reigning national champion and all-time wins leader Michigan would hold that distinction. That’s why, according to a report in RG, they want to make sure their Northwestern away game next year is held at Soldier Field rather than Wrigley Field.

And you can’t blame them because branding exercises like this are essential in this sport. And facing Alabama (or South Carolina, or perhaps the struggling Lane Kiffins of Ole Miss) are also important branding exercises. Illinois has already beaten the aforementioned Michigan this season; Imagine if they had rolled the tide in 1924 too?

Even though the opening line for this Citrus Bowl matchup would be between 14 and 17 points, that should be taken with a grain of salt.

A Bama team that was “relegated” to the Citrus Bowl instead of being out of its usual place, the playoffs, may not be particularly motivated.

Therefore, you get a lot of NFL Draft and transfer portal opt-outs for this game.

They would face a depleted Bama team, and there’s one statistic that bowl game forecasters, projectionists and oddsmakers can never calculate: Fs given.

Often, it’s not the better or more talented team that wins a particular bowl game. It’s the one who has more Fs to give.

Just showing up and taking a big exit risk against the Tide (WR Pat Bryant has already said he will play in postseason play) is a big win for the Illini.

And this Illini football season is already playing on house money.

“I thought we had a chance to win nine,” Illini coach Bret Bielema said at the postgame news conference, held in the Wrigley batting cages under first base.

“It’s been a long time since Illinois won nine times, and I hope that’s more the norm than not.”

He’s absolutely right. This is just the eighth 9+ win season in program history, and they are now just one win away from breaking the program record of 10 wins (which has been achieved four times previously).

It’s worth noting that the three teams that defeated the Illini had a combined record of 30-6 (prior to today’s results from Penn State and Oregon).

Two of Illinois’ three losses came on the road to top-three teams in the country (at Oregon, at Penn State).

“I don’t know what the future holds,” Bielema added.

“I know I’m excited about this football team and think we can play with anyone in the country.

“We are very happy with nine wins, but what is more important is for our fans, the administration and everyone who supports us.

Paul M. Banks is the founding editor of The sports bench. He is that too Author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” And “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons from a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”.”