Big Ten announces Illinois’ conference opponents

The Big Ten announced who Illinois will be playing this upcoming season — and where those games will be played.

For the 2022-23 season, Illinois will play seven teams both home and away, while they play six teams only once.

Here's how that looks with my gut reaction in parentheses.

Home & Away:

• Indiana (sure, that’s a good test)
• Minnesota (should be 2 wins)
• Nebraska (also 2 wins, thanks, Fred!)
• Northwestern (mhmmmmm)
• Ohio State (great test)
• Penn State (Illinois is better)
• Wisconsin (yay, I’ll be at that game in Madison!)

Home Only:

• Michigan (ooooooo, Orange Krush will like that one)
• Michigan State (also oooooo)
• Rutgers (thank the lord)

Away Only:

• Iowa (ughhhhhhhhhhh no Fran in the CU)
• Maryland (ughhhhhhhhhhh)
• Purdue (ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh)

Anywho, Illinois is 44-16 over the past three years in conference play, so basically 15-5 on average. I see that as possible again if the team gels early on.